Family Connections
by Sophie3
Summary: Never had a summer passed so quickly for Harry Potter. Sure, the beginning had been a little rough. Nearly being murdered by a cousin he didn't know existed, only to be saved by Sasuke. The rocky start he had had moving to Konoha. But as wonderful of a summer as it was, Harry still couldn't wait to get back to school...Assuming he survived having Team 7 in Diagon Alley.
1. Chapter 1

Intro:  
I LIVE! And I have fic for you. I made a promise to myself that I was going to finish this sequel no matter what, and after many years (and more than one nanowrimo attempt) I have. Ten years in the making.

The good news: this fic is complete! It will be about 72 chapters. I will post a chapter every week or two.

The bad news: when I started this fic, I had subplots within subplots and back story and charts and a whole lot of theory about magic and chakra and other things. Almost of none of that made it into the actual fic. The story is about 175K words and represents about 30% of what I wanted to do. I apologize in advance if some of the ideas are half-baked but it was the best I could do.

When the story is finished, I will post an appendix with some of the cut ideas and details, if anyone is interested.

As always, thanks to Black Hair Girl for being the best buddy ever. And thanks to Writing Night Seoul for being my writing buddies for a couple of very productive years. Miss ya'll!

Disclaimers: Once again – I did not finish watching Naruto. I stopped very early in Shippuden and I started writing this fic before then. Some major plot twists from Naruto made it into this fic, some did not. This exists in that happy fandom-made alternate world where Sasuke came home around the time the Shippuden arc is supposed to start.

Gen/Pairings: There are also no overt pairings, other than hints at Remus/Tonks, but you can see whatever you want if you squint and stare at it sideways. Lots of things are implied. Make of that what you will.

* * *

The Uchiha compound had originally been designed to hold nearly a dozen families, with even more room just outside of the walls proper for extend and lesser members. They had not been as self-contained as the Hyuga, but there was the unspoken understanding within the family that one stayed as close as possible, with the more prestigious family members nestled in the sanctuary of the center. It was standard practice. Yes, those nin might be more capable of defending themselves, but they were also more valuable. There were priorities to observe.

After the decimation of the Uchiha clan, the rented properties and houses just outside of the compound's walls returned to the village. Slowly they were bought up by freshly minted Chuunin (who liked to make sure everyone knew they didn't mind living next to a ghost town) or new merchant families more interested in the cheaper spacious quarters and less aware of the inherent wrongness most nin felt in the area.

The compound itself remained untouched. It still had an owner, and as much as certain village representatives might groan about limited real estate and rising prices, none of the old families were willing to cross that line. After all, inheritance rights were a cornerstone of what kept them held together – both within their clans (and the pecking orders therein) and to the village that promised them stability and consistency. The Uchiha Clan still existed, even if most felt it won't for much longer. That meant it had the protection of the village – even if it was an eyesore and a waste.

So when an enemy nin tried to crawl its way in from the eastern road, over the market area and across the training fields, and slither its way through the narrow streets of the civilian housing until it past the new barracks towers on the east side, heading inevitable for the Uchiha compound – well, the guards took notice.

The Chuunin at the gate was the first to flag it. He didn't actually see anything, but the regularly scheduled sweep of that side of the wall at 0330 showed slight scuff marks on the inside of the railing. So he called it in. Might be a bird. Could have been merely a case of carelessness from the Chuunin who checked that spot before at the 0315 mark, but it still got reported.

The Jounin commander on duty accepted the report, which meant a Confirmation of Incident went back to her commander (to be filed later when there was time for such things). But first, she stepped out to take a look. She caught the edge of something out of one eye, but not enough to engage. That however warranted an Intrusion Report (hastily scrawled on a slip of paper in short hand and sent off ahead of her) before the Jounin swung back around to grab the closest off-duty colleague (who had just gotten back from his own mission and had to leave behind a fresh plate of hot food and a full beer). The two of them headed towards their sudden 'meeting', loudly and conspicuously, but also just on the edge of tailing their prey. Just close enough to keep an eye on him.

No reason to spook the poor bastard before the ANBU got their dirty little claws into him.

Crane took pleasure in literally dropping on the rat's head as he tried to get his way past the wards on the western wall. The enemy nin had shown a certain level of skill in making it this far, and in identifying the weakest point in the defenses surrounding the Uchiha complex, but he was still out classed and Crane was going to make sure he knew it.

She landed knees first on his shoulders. Not enough to break anything (particularly not his neck at this angle, she'd have had to shift slightly down and to the left to do that) but it was enough to send the man staggering nearly face first into the tripwire in front of him. Which would have been an entertaining way to wrap up this bit of hunt and retrieve, but T&I always want their guests alive if possible. They got grumpy if all you brought back were bits.

The man scrambled out from under her, just barely managing to avoid setting off the rigged explosive tag through a somewhat impressive display of flexibility and dexterity. He came up armed and desperate. Which was good. Wouldn't do for infiltrators not to take them seriously. He immediately went for her throat, easy enough to parry, before twisting around and trying to shove a kunai up through the left arm gap of her chest piece. A good textbook move, going for the heart like that. She broke his wrist. Hand to hand might not be her preferred method for settling disputes, but it certainly had its advantages in the residential districts. No stray kunai and no property damage or loss of life from overpowered jutsus.

The broken wrist was seriously going to hamper her opponent and he was smart enough to realize it. It was enough to make him rethink his approach. Might be enough to spook him into trying to run. They couldn't have that. She slipped in close, making sure his arms were out and useless even if her body was close to his, and jammed the edge of her forearm guard into his throat. It wasn't enough to draw blood, but going by the way he was choking and gasping, he wasn't going to be able to focus on anything else any time soon. The genjutsu to make him think he still couldn't breathe was enough to have him pass out at her feet.

There was a click from nearby and Bear's voice in the darkness. "Three point four nine minutes. From Chuunin to ANBU. Not bad."

"Would have been faster if we hadn't had to wait for him to fumble his way around the Chuunin barracks."

"Well, I suppose we can't expect all intruders to be up to your high standards, Crane," Bear commiserated in the most sincere voice he was capable of. "Where's he claiming _not_ to be from?"

Crane nudged him over with one boot, even though they had both gotten a good look before. "Rock. But I've never seen a Rock nin in those pants before."

"Chaffing," Bear agreed.

They both grimaced.

"Anyway!" Crane announced, not wanting to remember her own ventures into such things or anyone else's. "Let's bring T&I their new toy. This is the first one this week. The spooks will be overjoyed."

Bear grunted but picked up the limp body like a gentleman. The extra work would be good for him if he wanted to keep up with Crane. "At this rate we're going to need to start charging the Uchiha."

Crane shrugged. She didn't mind a little extra work. It wasn't often you got to stretch your legs pulling guard duty. Getting to clean up the occasional small potato was sort of relaxing. But they were both aware that any enemy nin that made it this far into the village was only a small potato as long as no one died. Guard duty was boring and safe right up until it _really_ wasn't.

"I heard the new baby Uchiha is blind," she offered. Because if there was one thing all ANBU loved it was gossip.

Bear's mood brightened immediately. "I heard he doesn't know one end of kunai from the other and dropped one last week and almost took a finger off."

"I heard he set part of the compound on fire."

"I heard his mama came from Mist and that's why his chakra's all messed up."

"I heard some evil dark lord wants the boy dead and _that's_ why he's hiding out here."

Bear shared a long look with her before they both started cackling.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a perfectly lovely summer day. The sun was shining brightly overhead and there was a pleasant breeze under the canopy of the tall trees that surrounded Konoha. Harry Potter didn't have any grass to mow, or unpleasant relatives to avoid. He didn't have any school work to worry about, or dark creatures currently trying to kill him. The most dangerous thing he might run into out in the woods was a particularly aggressive squirrel.

Or Naruto Uzumaki.

"AARRHHHHH!"

The bellow was the only warning Harry had, and even that was given at the last moment. He tried to duck. But Naruto seemed to be made of nothing but energy and flailing limbs and heavy weight and he crashed into Harry's side with all the force of a professional Beater bodily checking an opponent.

Harry fell off of the ledge he had climbed up on to get a better view. It wasn't the first time Harry had fallen off of something – particularly lately – and he knew to keep his arms focused on protecting his head and tried to roll out of it. Having Naruto wrapped around him like a disturbing orange blanket made the landing much more difficult to control. But it also meant that he fell on the other boy instead of the hard ground.

"Oof! You're supposed'ta dodge, Harry!" Naruto whined as he slumped dramatically on the ground and rubbed at his head. Harry hoped he hadn't hit it on the way down, but he'd also learned over the last few weeks when to worry about the other boy getting hurt and when to ignore him. Now was one of the latter.

Harry pushed himself back up to his feet as fast as he could, as fast as if one of Hagrid's pets had escaped and was chasing after him, and immediately started scrambling back up the hill. Naruto was so busy bemoaning his fate as a human crashpad that it took him a moment to realize he didn't have an audience. "Hey! No fair! I caught ya!"

Harry scrambled up the last bit of rocks, his grip on the side much more sure now than it had been the first couple of times he had tried something like this. Even his fingers had gotten strong over the last month and he pulled himself up with barely a thought for how hard this would have been before. He waited until he had managed the top before breathlessly replying, buying for as much time as he could even though he knew he had to answer that challenge. "You didn't _catch_ me, Naruto!" he called back cheerfully, knowing the rules of the game were in his favor. "More like you fell down and took me with you. I don't think that counts."

It probably did. If this had been the real world, if Naruto had been an enemy nin or a dark wizard, then that certainly would have been the end of it for Harry. But this was a game. A nin game. And sometimes the only way to win at a nin game was to bend the hell out of the rules.

So Harry jerked away as soon as the words were out of his mouth and scrambled for the far side of the rock out cropping. Naruto bellowed in fake rage and Harry knew he had only a moment while the other boy threw a fit before he would be up and after Harry as fast as he could. He might treat the game as just that, a game, and make silly jokes and flail about – but he wouldn't hold back when he did come after Harry. The point was for Harry to get used to it. Predict it. And do his best to survive.

It was sort of like the best game of tag ever, in the same way that DA club was just a study group or the Tri-Wizard tournament just a school competition. That was to say, Sasuke at least – and probably Naruto and Sakura and whoever else was with them each time – were playing at war games and Harry was just trying to have a little fun and not fall on his face.

The rock formation wasn't very large, just enough to break the tree coverage. The sun shone through the gap brightly, making the stone under Harry's hands almost uncomfortable hot. At its peak, it brought him up only about 10 feet. Hardly as tall as some of the larger formations at the base of the mountain behind the village. But it was tall enough that Harry could almost reach the lowest branch of the nearby tree.

The tree wasn't a pine, like so many of the others. It was something more gnarled, its trunk twisted in on itself as it seemed to corkscrew out of the ground and up into the air. There wasn't a lot of diversity in the trees near Konoha, but maybe the extra sunlight here gave this one the chance it needed to grow almost as tall as the others. Its lowest branches were still well above the ground floor, but it's ropy base gave a person plenty of opportunity to climb up the side.

If someone wanted to waste time doing that.

Harry didn't have time like that, though, not if he planned on getting a hand on the kunai stuck fast just above the lowest branches. There was even a piece of red ribbon tied to the handle enticingly. Taunting him.

The head start Naruto had given him at the very beginning of this game should have theoretically been enough time for Harry to manage getting to it without getting caught. Theoretically. In practice, these games rarely ever worked out that way. This time around, Harry had gotten hung up early on in one of the Naruto's traps near the beginning and he'd lost precious time getting out of it without getting 'hit' by colored powder. In Sasuke's book, that would mean the day hadn't been a complete waste even if Harry had failed miserably at everything else. Harry was getting better at disarming traps, given enough time. But Harry wanted that damn kunai and he knew just how to get it.

The jump from sloping rock ledge to long tree branch wasn't _that_ far. Barely a step off for the others. And even though Harry still couldn't figure out how to get all that energy in him to actually do something useful like go to his feet, Harry was very good at making leaps his classmates back home wouldn't dare.

Naruto yelped behind him, already close enough to see but still too far back to catch him yet. It was a much higher pitched yelp than his playful groaning before, but Harry ignored it and focused all of his attention and effort on one perfect jump.

The branch caught him across his chest, not quite low enough to knock the air out of him, but still unpleasant. His hands scrambled to catch a good grip and his legs kicked ineffectively until he managed to wrap himself around it. The bark was smoother under his hands than the evergreens were, a bit slipperier to hold onto, but he had good motivation now. The fall was at least three times his height and he would _not _enjoy that. Only one way and that was up!

Harry grabbed and pulled and tugged himself up onto all fours on the branch – its width barely big enough for him to balance precariously on – before dashing the last bit of distance to grab the kunai before Naruto could do something dastardly like knock him down again.

It took a bit of a tug to yank it free. Enough that Harry almost slipped right off of the branch he was clinging to, but he still held it up triumphantly. It wasn't common for Harry to make it this far, but every now and then he got lucky or did something accidentally clever and made it much farther than the others expected. The rarity of it was what made the game still interesting – even if he was certain this was a poorly veiled excuse for Sasuke to 'train' him before he went back to school.

Grinning to himself, Harry looked around for Naruto. Since he had won, he at least didn't have to worry about being tackled out of the tree. But he still wanted to figure out where the other boy was so he could show off a little. Except Naruto wasn't on the rocks or on the ground below and it took Harry a moment to realize he was clinging to the underside of the branch Harry was on.

Sakura had explained how they used chakra to stick to various surfaces. It sounded way more useful than your standard Sticking Charm, particularly since they could control it with only a thought. Harry would have to ask Hermonie when he got back if there were any more advanced charms that mimicked something like that, but he doubted it. With magic, everything was about the function of the spell at the time you cast it. You couldn't just reshape it on a whim. Magic just wasn't flexible that way – even if it was faster than your standard jutsu.

Naruto bent himself in half, looking for all the world like he was bending over to peer at something even though he was upside down and instead doing some kind of bizarre looking crunch. "Damn, Harry. You got some good air there. Try not to get me killed, eh? Toss up between a heart attack or Sasuke being what does me in if you'd've fallen, but still." He shook his head. "Might not have caught you in time."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't have fallen." Most likely. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time he'd fallen out of a high tree. Dudley used to try knocking him out of trees all the time and always seemed confused and disappointed when the fall wasn't enough to hurt him. Ron said that was normal for wizarding kids. They were extra bouncy or something, according to Ron. Magic had a way of keeping them safe. It certainly hadn't worked every time, but Harry was used to taking the chance.

Naruto squinted at him but let it go in a way Sasuke never would have. "Should've sat on you when I caught ya."

"You _didn't _catch me," Harry pointed out cheerfully.

Naruto walked his way around the circumference of the branch until they were more or less on the same level. He jabbed a finger at Harry and proclaimed "just you wait! Next time! Next time there'll be….sticky glue! Then we'll see how much you can do a flying frog routine, just you wait and see!"

Harry laughed even as he winced. Because Naruto did not make threats lightly. There would definitely be sticky glue next time and it was probably going to be both humiliating and painful to get out of. Probably what he deserved for fudging the rules a little. They'd been playing this complicated game of tag a lot, each day a different one of them setting up a challenge for him to work his way through. Most of the time it was like an obstacle course. Naruto liked to add traps. Sakura sometimes led him on wild goose chases, leaving just enough clues to test his ability to solve puzzles or follow a trail. She'd string him along as far as she could, in convoluted paths that took him up and down all of the village. Sasuke would, occasionally, only under tightly controlled environments, work on adding in jutsus. But all three of them were rather obviously very careful not to hurt him or let him get hurt. So taking advantage of the fact that Naruto not only broke his fall for him, but made sure not to grab him too rough, to make a dash for the kunai probably wasn't sporting.

But Harry had also never been the type to ignore a challenge. And their coddling of him – even if it was well meant and _maybe_ justified – was still a challenge.

"Problem for another day," Harry finally declared. Because what else could he do at this point? He swung the kunai back and forth on one finger like a pendulum and was pleased with how easy it was to do so without having to worry about it slipping off or somehow magically stabbing himself in the leg with it. Kunai lessons had also continued after that disastrous night when Death Eaters had followed him to Konoha and attacked his cousin's house. In fact, Sasuke had insisted on them and on Harry carrying his own limited supply. He still had to keep them carefully holstered so he wouldn't accidentally stab himself (unlike the way the others frequently had them tucked into whatever nook or cranny of clothing they felt like with no regard to how sharp they were).

Harry was fairly confident he'd never be able to actually _stab_ someone. It was certainly more violent than what he was used to. But he also never would have thought himself capable of doing any number of things before Death Eaters started being a normal part of his life.

"Come on," Naruto announced. "I'm hungry. Let's get ramen."

Ramen wasn't Harry's favorite food, not like Naruto, but Harry was a fan of eating frequently. "Bit early for dinner," he had to point out though. Sakura was working today and normally they waited for her. Since living in the compound had changed from just Harry and Sasuke, to Harry, Sasuke and Naruto, to now all four of them, meals had become more structured and social. Sasuke might not care if they went without them, but poor Sakura would be disappointed if they didn't wait for her.

Naruto didn't even pause to think about it, however. "One bowl of ramen," he compromised. "Then we can still eat when the others are done."

They didn't talk about where Sasuke had been that day. He might have been running errands or working some more on the house. He might have been pulling guard duty like he did sometimes. He might have been doing something else that the others didn't want to talk about. It was annoying, but Harry was learning to compromise. He didn't ask about what Sasuke did every day and Sasuke actually went and did something else other than hover over Harry like a demented form of Mrs. Weasley with a sick child.

It wasn't perfect. They still argued frequently, one or both of them blowing up at times in frustration. But things were going pretty good.


	3. Chapter 3

Sasuke Uchiha wanted to strangle someone. More than one someone. And very specific someones.

First most was the 'missing' nin he currently had under him. The other man was already singed around the edges, with more than one broken bone, a concussion and potentially serious internal bleeding. Sasuke also had enough wire wrapped around his throat that it would only take a simple twist of his wrist to make the desire to choke the life out of someone a reality.

But dead men were not as useful as live ones. Even if they were mangy filth come to kidnap or kill his cousin.

"Pretty sure that one's not getting up anytime soon, Uchiha-san," the ANBU crouched down next to him said. Sasuke had not felt the man approach but he had pinpointed when he had moved out of the shadows and up alongside Sasuke. If he hadn't had his hands full at the moment he might have done something juvenile like throw an exploding tag in the man's face.

"Where were you?" he demanded.

"Around," the ANBU answered with a wave of his hand that was very reminiscent of Kakashi-sensei, even if Sasuke knew for a fact that was not who was behind that mask. "Observing. Your cousin's kind of entertaining when he's tripping all over himself."

Harry and Naruto were using the training field just on the other side of this one and far too close for Sasuke's comfort. He also did not appreciate the voyeurism, even if intellectually he understood that it was all but a given in a nin village. _Most_ people at least had the decency to pretend otherwise.

"I was unaware that ANBU operatives could be so easily distracted from their mission," he snarled quietly, keeping enough pressure on the garret under his hands to make sure that the man under him would not get any ideas.

"Depends on what the orders are," the ANBU answered back cryptically. The way they always did. "May I?" he asked ever so politely as he gestured to Sasuke's captive.

"Fine!" Sasuke barked. If the ANBU wanted to show up now and actually do his job, then far be it for Sasuke to stand in his way. The foreign nin had already managed to get far too close to his cousin for comfort.

"Second one this week!" the ANBU continued pithily. "Your cousin's getting more and more popular."

Sasuke did not answer verbally, but they both knew the man could feel Sasuke's frustration and rage.

"Keep this up and we might have to start making it a permanent detail. Maybe part of the baby ANBU training routine, kill two birds with one stone, as it were."

Sasuke swallowed down his first response to that, one that would probably lead to blows. "Are the gate guards sleeping through their watch or merely that incompetent?"

The ANBU finished tussling up their latest catch, and paused, still on his haunches, to look up at Sasuke. "Don't be ridiculous, Uchiha-san," The man assured him. "The Hokage gave specific orders that any infiltrators should be allowed to pass. We need to confirm after all that they're actually here for your fragile cousin and not some other nefarious purpose. Shouldn't get ahead of ourselves after all."

Sasuke really was going to kill someone.

The ANBU hefted his load up onto one shoulder, holding it in place lightly with one hand. "Remind me, how many more weeks till we say a fond farewell and good riddance to your little party?" the man asked and had the audacity to stand there waiting for a damn response.

"Two weeks," Sasuke bit out, just to be rid of the man and his incompetence and irreverence.

The man sighed. "Well, I suppose I&T has room for a few more friends in the meantime. Do tell your cousin to watch it with those jumps though. We'd hate to see him dash that soft little head of his against a rock or something. He really did manage a good distance. It was _almost_ impressive."

The man leaped out of the way before Sasuke could retaliate and disappeared into the foliage.

Sasuke was going to kill his cousin – if the boy didn't manage to get himself killed first.


	4. Chapter 4

"It wasn't that far of a jump!" Naruto whined. They were crowded around a small table laden food. Unfortunately not ramen, but apparently they had to diversify or some shit like that. _Harry_ apparently needed vegetables, according to Sasuke, and that was the end of _that_ conversation.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, still shoveling rice into his mouth the way only a hungry nin could, but not letting up on the death glare either. "Define not far," he demanded. "What are we talking about in distance? Height?"

Naruto laughed nervously and glanced over at Harry. Harry was ignoring them in the kind of pointed way he had developed over the last few weeks of dealing with Team 7's very own hovering dark storm cloud. Sakura was describing to him a type of tension based trap, something more complicated than your standard academy fare. Harry had taken to traps like a fish to water and soaked up most of what they told him. It had helped once they figured out that he could _activate _chakra tags (though he couldn't create his own). Sasuke was still being a bit tight fisted with the explosive tags, however. Probably didn't trust his cousin not to blow off a foot or something. But Harry seemed okay with non-lethal traps so that all worked out okay. They just wouldn't point out to Harry that the system Sakura was currently sketching out for him could just as easily be used to take a man's head off.

"I don't understand what the big deal is," Naruto muttered. "It was barely a hop. I mean, a good hop, hadn't expected him to make it, but ya know, a hop. Easy."

Sasuke had stopped eating and was glaring even more. "Stats," he demanded.

Like a dog with a bone, geeze. Naruto harrumphed and rubbed one hand over his face while he tried to remember. Stats and details weren't really his thing, particularly if a thing already worked and was done and over with, but whatever. "It was only about ten feet across. Ya practically could've reached out and touched it. Just wasn't expectin' him to go that route, ne?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Sakura!" he snapped, interrupting her conversation pretty rudely. She only raised an eyebrow at him before finishing what she was saying first and then giving him her attention.

"How high up did you mark today?" Sasuke asked in a creepily even voice, as if he wasn't threatenin' to eviscerate Naruto by sheer will power alone.

"12 feet, give or take a few inches," she answered before pointedly going back to her conversation – and drawing Harry's attention away before another one of _those_ conversations could start.

Sasuke and Naruto stared at one another, one of them stony in silence and the other laughing nervously.

"Is that too high? Naruto finally broke and asked. "I mean, it's a little high, but not that high. A totally normal high."

"Anything over six feet can kill him."

Naruto stared. "For real?"

"Anything over his own height!" Sasuke hissed.

"No way!"

"Would you like to see the texts?"

"Wait, what texts? Sasuke! Did ya research how far he could fall before dyin'?"

"Of course I did, you moron! How often does he fall out of things? And associating with the likes of you only increases the chance!"

Which was a low blow and totally not exclusive to him and they both knew it but Naruto was mag-nan-im-ous and willin' to let Sasuke pretend otherwise. "Only six feet?" Naruto repeated. Because damn. That – that was hardly anything at all. You could trip out of a window at that height. Slip off a low building. Trip on a curb. No wonder Sasuke was so twitchy. Harry didn't seem like he was that fragile, but the other boy did have a tendency to try to bully his way through things like he had no fear.

Sasuke finally leaned back, poking at his food viciously. "Theoretically. If he landed wrong. Which is always a possibility."

Which was Sasuke speak for 'absolutely worst possible scenario, yes, it was a possibility.' Naruto laughed. "Well, alright then. As long as he keeps nailin' the landings."

"I wouldn't have called that 'nailing' the landing," Harry piped in suddenly, "but it wasn't my worst, so thanks."

Sasuke's eyes darted to the side, trying to study his cousin and his moods without making it clear that he was doing so. Little chicken shit, Naruto thought fondly. At least he'd figured out to keep most of his mother hennin' to himself. The day Naruto Uzumaki had to lecture Sasuke Uchiha on being subtle about something was truly a frightening day.

"Anything hurt?" Sakura asked in her very professional, one colleague to another voice.

Harry rubbed at his chest a little, a far more telling move than most nin would do, before shrugging. "More shocked me than anything else," he told her. "Nothing even close to getting clipped by a bludger." He grinned suddenly. "Hey, maybe all of this will help with Quidditch. Shame we don't have a snitch we could practice with. You'd love Quidditch."

Naruto bounced in his seat. "More magic? Can we learn that? I wanna try. Maybe we're better at that than regular magic." Because they sure as hell couldn't get any worse. 'Work' days meant alternating who spent the day with Harry, keeping him busy either exploring the village or 'practicing' (aka Sasuke's training regimen for how to make Harry more like a nin). But non-work days, when all three of Team 7 was off and had time to themselves, they usually spent in the back garden of the Uchiha compound trying to learn magic. 'Trying' being the operative word there. If Harry's ability to manipulate chakra was very limited and needed serious work – then Team 7's ability to get even so much as a spark out of Harry's wand was dismal. They'd tried every spell Harry could think of without so much as a warm tingle. They could all feel the chakra released when Harry cast a spell, but none of them could figure out how Harry got it out from inside him.

Harry sighed. Out of all of them, he was probably the one most frustrated – and only with himself. He seemed to think it made him a bad teacher. Naruto had had his own share of good and bad teachers, so he knew the difference well enough to know there was nothin' wrong with Harry. Sometimes things just took longer to learn, that was all. Naruto was still confident that a bit of hard work would fix their problem, and the others hadn't given up either.

"Quidditch might work for you," Harry mussed. "Brooms are already enchanted, so they might just respond. I wish I'd brought _something_ with me. Anything. At least then we'd know if magical items worked for you. I can't wait to get back."

Going to Hogwarts was one of Harry's favorite things to talk about. It usually involved him going on about how wonderful it was and how much they were going to love it and how excited he was to have them there with him. It was kind of cute. Like watching Konohamaru brag about his academy classes. It also stressed the hell out of Sasuke (and the rest of them) but none of them were going to tell Harry that.

They had two weeks left before they would need to start the long trek back to the non-nin world. The trip there alone had Sasuke sprouting gray hairs and spending half of his time in meetings with the Hokage. There was a lot of ground to cover between here and there and more than one less than friendly place to cross through. It had been relatively easy for a well-trained group of nin to make the trek and they had cheated big time on the return. But they couldn't use a seal to go back that way, which meant traveling. On the open road. With a civilian. It was an A-rank mission on the best of days – and Team 7 rarely had the best of days.

But at the rate they were going, with the number of times someone had tried to kidnap or kill Harry even while he was in the village, they had to do something. Sasuke had already passed on the message, quickly and discreetly, that they'd had another one today. One with enough poison on him to take down Kakashi-sensei with barely a murmur. As much as they wanted to keep Harry here forever, it was pretty damn clear that that wasn't an option either.

That wasn't even touching how in the hell they were going to provide proper protection for Harry in a foreign place, with a bunch of wizards running around, who used chakra in ways they still couldn't understand, for a whole year.

So while Harry was delirious with joy, the rest of Team 7 felt like there was a ticking time bomb in their hands.

But it was hard to be too upset about it when Harry was clearly so pumped. It was the most animated he'd been and almost every other word on the topic was about how he couldn't wait to share something with them. Even Sasuke had unbent enough that he sometimes actually looked curious. Like he wanted to know what could make his cousin that happy. Like it might make him that happy too.

"Quidditch is a game, right?" Naruto asked. "With teams?" There weren't a lot of games or sports in a nin village, not unless you counted things like the chunnin exams. But it sounded like fun.

Harry nodded. "On brooms."

Which made _zero_ sense and sounded horribly uncomfortable but Harry had explained that their broom flew (for god knows what reason) and had cushioning charms (whatever those were) that made them bearable.

Harry grinned back, his eyes cutting to Sasuke briefly. Harry was still always watching the other boy, gaging his response, as if he was always waiting for something to go wrong. Sasuke was very carefully neutral. Which, for the teme, was practically glowing encouragement and it meant that his cousin kept talking. "You should see some of the heights we use in Quidditch. Not much jumping – not unless you've really done something wrong – but you get good at judging distances and reacting. The snitch is the hard part. It's about this big, fast, and notorious for making life difficult for you. You'd think on an open pitch there'd be nowhere to hide, but the snitch has a way of disappearing when it wants to." Harry grinned even more. "Trust me, you'll love it."

Sasuke looked a bit green around the gills at the idea of his cousin being combined with yet more height, but he wisely kept his mouth shut. Apparently, even stubborn teme's could learn from time to time.


	5. Chapter 5

Never had a summer passed so quickly for Harry Potter.

Sure, the beginning had been a little rough. Those first few weeks at his Aunt's had been a slow kind of torture. Knowing that there were great changes happening in the wizarding world but being helpless to do anything about it. Having to live day in and day out with the overwhelming guilt of what had happened to his godfather. Nearly being murdered by a cousin he didn't know existed, only to be saved by another. The rocky start he had had moving to Konoha. Nearly being killed a couple more times... Yes, the beginning of summer had been less than pleasant, but the last few weeks had been some of the best of Harry's life.

His days had been filled with elaborate games of tag or keep-away or several other variations of the same thing that all added up to obstacle courses and training. It might all be carefully constructed as some kind of 'play' but Harry knew he was learning how to fight. How to move his body in time with an opponent to defend himself and gain the upper hand. The exercise alone had been wonderful. Harry had always preferred more vigorous hobbies, and pushing his body while learning how to defend himself and his friends was infinitely better than sweating through the summer cleaning house and tending the yard. Even Sasuke had been pleased with his progress, though you had to learn to interpret the slight nod of his head after a long day of work as the vast praise it was.

In the quiet of the afternoons, when he was pleasantly exhausted, he'd find a nice spot under some shade and flip lazily through the basic academy books Naruto had found for him. They were hard to read, the translation jutsu only stretching so far, but the diagrams were helpful and it was better than nothing. In all honesty, however, he spent most of that time watching his cousin and his friends perform amazing acts of agility and violence. They seemed to enjoy it, however, and Harry felt like he learned things just from watching them. Like how to wiggle out of a choke hold. Or how effective it was to fling a handful of dirt in your opponent's face.

The only thing he hadn't been able to learn so far was chakra. No matter how many times they tried – no matter how much Sasuke got frustrated or how many different ways Naruto found for explaining the same thing or how many times Sakura pushed her own chakra through his 'pathways' trying to show him how it should work – Harry just couldn't figure it out. He could feel the energy they talked about, sort of like the swooping feeling in his stomach after a deep dive during a Qudditch match, but it all seemed so _shapeless_. Like he was trying to catch a hold of something he couldn't touch but could still feel.

Sasuke was convinced that it was just a matter of practice. Of building up his chakra levels. Harry was less convinced but he managed to keep his frustration to himself for the most part. Sasuke's frustration was bad enough, they didn't need to add any more unpleasantness to the situation.

It didn't take a genius to figure out how worried Sasuke was about the whole thing. Every few days he'd come up with a new theory, or a new technique to try, as if he thought with enough will power he could _fix_ this. It sort of reminded Harry of when Hermonie was fixated on a problem. Sometimes, it was just best to go along with it. To try to appreciate the effort, even if it was driving you a little batty.

And while Sasuke was determined to teach Harry how to use Chakra, Naruto was just as determined to learn magic. Even though Harry had explained to him time and time again that it was difficult for even a trained wizard to use someone else's wand. He and Sakura and Sasuke had had Harry firing off spells left and right those first couple of weeks after they found out he could do magic. But any attempts by them to recreate the same thing met with just as little success as getting Harry to perform a jutsu. And Sasuke didn't trust anything he didn't understand.

They had tried for weeks before giving it up.

Despite all of that, it had been a highly educational summer. He almost hadn't wanted to return to Hogwarts when the time came – a first for Harry.

But arrangements had been made. Team 7 would travel across country by the easiest road possible, camping out along the way, until they reached the edge of the territory belonging to the shinobi nations and passed over to the regular world. From there they would take more traditional transportation to London to pick up a few supplies at Diagon Alley. After that would be the train to Hogwarts for Harry, with three guest students and one assistant DADA teacher. Arrangements had already been made for the additions to the school body and apparently so far no one had even questioned it. Weirder things had happened at Hogwarts after all. Teaching ghosts, dragons and three headed dogs came to mind. And for once, this was going to be something good for Harry. He was going to have his family with him for the whole year. And maybe even longer.

So as wonderful of a summer as it was, Harry still couldn't wait to get back to school.

Assuming he survived having Team 7 in Diagon Alley.

"Naruto Uzumaki! I swear if you touch that, I will personally remove your fingernails and feed them to you!"

"But –"

"No buts! The last thing you touched exploded!"

"I didn't know that it'd – "

"The sign said 'DO NOT TOUCH', what did you think it meant?"

"But it was shiny!"

"NO TOUCHING!"

Harry felt a bit faint just watching them. Half the street was turning to see what the commotion was and the guards outside of Gringotts looked even more unhappy than usual. They had refused to allow Naruto to enter when the whole team had tried to accompany Harry inside. Something about Naruto setting off their wards. It had seemed best not to argue, so Sasuke had accompanied him while the others had waited outside.

Harry had wanted Sasuke added to the list of people who had access to his vault, but Sasuke had insisted it would not be necessary. Harry had tried to explain that goblin banks were not to be taken lightly, but Sasuke had merely waved off all of his concerns. In fact, Sasuke seemed more comfortable there than he had the rest of Diagon Alley. He spent the entire ride down peering over the edge of the cart as calm as if they were taking a leisurely drive through the countryside. He had stared at the piles of gold as if he couldn't understand its purpose but agreed quickly to help Harry carry out what he wanted. He'd even shown Harry the best way to hide money on his person to avoid theft. It was the kind of practical reaction Harry had come to expect from Sasuke, though part of him had secretly hoped to impress the other boy. Harry liked to believe he wasn't the kind of person to care much about money, or about what other people thought of him, but he found himself often trying to impress his cousin.

"Dobe…" Sasuke growled as they came out of the bank and heard the commotion happening in the street. Almost too fast to follow, Sasuke was down the wide steps leading to the bank and grabbed his teammate by the collar. But his glare wasn't limited to just Naruto as he berated both him and Sakura. "What part of do not draw attention did you miss?"

"He started it," Sakura muttered and it was the closest Harry had ever heard her come to petulant. Despite being a well-respected medic in her village, her teammates still managed to pull Sakura-chan down to their level on a regular basis. She shrugged, giving Harry a somewhat apologetic looking smile when he caught up with them. "People were already staring."

Harry sighed. "They do that around here," he agreed. They were hoping to get in and out of Diagon Alley without drawing too much attention to themselves, but he suspected that was already a lost battle. It was hard enough for Harry to get around on his own, but with Team 7 in tow, disaster was bound to strike.

"Where is Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke demanded. He still had ahold of Naruto's collar and was using it as a convenient way to direct the other boy through the crowded main street.

Naruto flung out one arm. "There!" he answered. "Bookstore!"

Sasuke grimaced and these days Harry knew why. They had spent the past week traveling from Konoha to London and Kakashi-sensei had produced a new lurid novel seemingly every day. None of them knew where he had his collection stored and no one wanted to. Merely the words 'Kakashi' and 'book' in the same sentence was enough to make all of them cringe.

Harry sighed once more. "We might as well go in. I'm going to need textbooks and I'm sure you'll want a few of your own for when your reading gets better."

"My reading is fine," Sasuke grumbled.

"I hate books!" Naruto whined.

"Training!" Sakura snapped as if that was all the motivation they needed.

The boys sullenly fell into line as Harry led the way through the crowded shop. "Books aren't training," Naruto still complained but even he didn't fight her on this.

"They are if you want to learn magic."

And as if the words themselves were magic, she had Naruto's complete attention. They were hoping to have better success teaching Team 7 magic once they were in the wizarding world. Especially since it was now no longer a theoretical exercise but something that would surround them daily. Kakashi-sensei didn't seem to think it would be too bad, even if his students couldn't replicate any spells. "If they can't survive based on what they already know, then they deserve what's coming to them" had been his attitude. It had not been reassuring. But Naruto was convinced that once given the proper equipment, he could manage anything. And it was hard for Harry not to believe in his enthusiasm.

They found the section with introductory texts and Harry tried to help them select a few. He'd only ever really used his school books. Literary diversity was really more Hermonie's thing, but he was at least able to tell if the writing was horrible. Naruto wanted one of every kind available, but Sakura and Sasuke ignored him. They were in the process of carefully selecting tomes on the main subjects when Kakashi-sensei wandered down the aisle. In one hand he had his own personal book held up to read. In the other was cradled a stack of about fifteen books. He held them balanced easily as if they weighed nothing, but when he dropped them at Naruto's feet, the floor vibrated and half the store turned to see if an entire shelf had fallen over.

"Oi! Watch it!" Naruto yelped as he danced away.

Kakashi-sensei looked up long enough to check that he hadn't actually squashed anyone with his collection. "Damn. I missed."

"Argh!"

Sakura looked up from her own small stack. A couple of their books were the same. "Are you getting all of those, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked, her voice distracted as she squinted down at the book open in her hands. Their own translation jutsu had worked well enough for them to find Harry, but it had become clear traveling together just how much they did not understand. Harry was getting used to translating things or taking the lead, but Sakura and Sasuke were learning quickly and insisted on trying to read everything they could get their hands on.

"We're getting these," Kakashi-sensei confirmed. "I've already checked all of the options. Unless you want a special fun book for yourself," he added, holding up the top book from his pile. It was leather bound, like most wizarding books, with a gilt engraving that depicted what looked like a dancing Veela being chased across the cover by a dragon. It was a cover Harry had seen before in the hands of a couple of the older girls at school. "These are all we need," Kakashi-sensei concluded.

"I still need school books," Harry reminded him before pulling out his list. Hedwig had been waiting for him as soon as they set foot in Diagon Alley. Professor Lupin had taken care of her for the summer, reassuring him that she'd be safe until he returned. She seemed perfectly healthy, if a little miffed with him. He'd lost a couple of chunks of hair to her vigorous 'grooming'. But she'd faithfully delivered his newest school list. While Sakura and Naruto stayed with Kakashi-sensei and argued over which books were necessary and which ones really were not, Sasuke followed Harry from section to section as he collected what he needed. He saw a couple of his schoolmates but no one he knew well. Certainly no one who would know he had been away for most of the summer. They waved hello to each other and kept moving.

Each time, however, Sasuke would suddenly find something interesting a few paces behind him and not continue dogging his heels until the person was out of sight. The hope was to get in and out of Diagon Alley without attracting too much attention to Harry's special guests. While the Headmaster planned on introducing Team 7 and Kakashi at the beginning of term, it was agreed that it would be best to not make public Sasuke and Harry's familial connection. And for once, Sasuke and Harry were in agreement on something in that regard. Harry didn't want to risk Voldemort finding out that he now had a family once more. He wasn't sure why Sasuke also thought it was a good idea, but he suspected it had something to do with being sneaky. All of Team 7 seemed to thrive on subterfuge, whether it was needed or not.

Sasuke still stayed close, however, like a beater covering a chaser. He looked ready to bodily fling himself between Harry and the crowds. Which might have been annoying, except for how ridiculous it was to think he might be attacked while in the book store. So Harry distracted him by handing him textbooks. Transfiguration was two books this year, a traditional textbook and something that looked more like a biography. Hopefully it would be interesting and not mind-numbing. Potions was only a slim plain tome, which boded ill. Snape wasn't the type of professor to assign something simple or easy. Which probably meant the book explained nothing and Harry was going to be spending a lot of time in the library trying to figure out what the hell it was supposed to be teaching him. When it came time to check out, Harry went up to the counter alone, his textbooks as well as Kakashi's collection towering in his arms. He received a few odd looks as it took two of the shop attendants to check him out. Thankfully, they were more than proficient at a good shrinking charm, and Harry was able to make his way back out unburdened.

Team 7 was waiting just outside the door. Kakashi-sensei had found a wall to hold up and was doing his best impersonation of a shadow, albeit with its nose buried in a new leather book. Harry had wondered where the novel had gotten to, since it wasn't in the pile he paid for, but he had assumed it had been returned to its shelf. Apparently it had grown legs and followed Kakashi-sensei out. Harry winced, but figured since no alarms were going off that the man had gotten away with it. It still made him frown. There was a big difference between 'borrowing' a book from the Restricted Section and taking one from a store. Maybe he could post the cost later. Nin ideas about ownership were very loose and sometimes convoluted. It was possible Kakasi-sensei had paid for the book in some underhanded way. It was hard to tell, but Harry would rather err on the side of caution.

Standing nearby, their heads bent over his shopping list, were Sakura and Sasuke. They had already studied the list in depth before entering Diagon Alley, but apparently wanted to re-confer on their battle plan for collecting his supplies now that they knew the lay of the land. It wasn't worth fighting. They'd probably get him through all of his shopping in record time, there just wouldn't be any room for ice cream or admiring Quidditch gear (unless he could convince them that the padding was good armor).

Naruto was the only one waiting impatiently. He'd been eager to go off exploring since the brick wall had first folded back, but Sasuke had kept him in line with a terse reminder that there might be people trying to kill Harry here. Which while, yes, somewhere there were probably a few Death Eater families here to buy their children school books and new robes, there would be significantly fewer this year than last. The seniors Crabbe, Nott and Malfoy had all been arrested after what happened last year, and as far as Harry knew, were still in prison where they belonged. He'd tried explaining that to Team 7, but they'd gotten caught up on the fact that all three of them had been suspected of involvement with Voldemort last time and hadn't been executed. And that was a discussion Harry didn't want to have – for a number of reasons. But ever since then, Naruto had been trying his best to focus. Harry could understand the challenge. For someone as energetic and curious as Naruto, Diagon Alley had to be a wonderland of waiting adventures. Harry often felt the same way.

When Harry walked out, Naruto was eyeing some of the passing pedestrians. They in turn gave him a wide berth, despite the crowded street, a space that only grew when he grinned back at them. He kept his hands laced behind his head however and was clearly not-causing-trouble. His eyes lit up when he saw Harry. "We've got the books now," he said as if they were collecting ingredients for a potion. "Is it time for the wands?"

Sasuke gave him only an absentminded glare before turning back to the list. "There are other necessary supplies to buy, dobe."

Naruto shrugged. "Yeah, but this is one of them. And don't you want to be on an even footing with the civies?"

"Having a wand doesn't mean you can do magic," Harry hastily reminded him. It had been frustrating not being able to manage even a simple jutsu, but Harry had always known he still had his magic and that was enough for him. He suspected someone like Naruto wouldn't be as content to be limited.

And he was right. Naruto grinned back brightly and with a hint of mischief in his eyes. "But _not_ having a wand _guarantees_ I can't do magic."

They all paused in what they were doing. Even Kakashi-sensei glanced up from his new book. His face crinkled in a smile. "He does have a point!" he announced cheerfully. As the adult of their group, Harry would have expected him to make the final judgment call. And there was something about the way he blithely chimed in that suggested he really was. But there was still an implication that Sasuke would have the last word. It might not be the word they followed, but Kakashi-sensei would be gracious enough to let him have it.

It looked like it pained Sasuke to have to agree with Naruto's logic but he finally sighed and put away the list. "Might as well get it over with," he grumbled.

Naruto whooped then started to lead the way up the street.

"That's not the right way," Harry teased, entertained by his enthusiasm.

But Naruto didn't even hesitate. He shot a cheerful grin over his shoulder and said "of course it is."

Harry laughed. "How would you know?" Even now, with all of the times Harry had been to Diagon Alley, he still found it a confusing and jumbled place. While large and popular, it still managed to give the impression of twisting narrow streets and shadowy corners. It was part of its charm, really. But for someone new to the wizarding world, it must seem like a great maze. It was only chance that Naruto was walking in the right direction.

But Naruto didn't seem intimidated in the least. He continued on, walking backwards as they slowly followed him. "I have ways, Harry-kun. Mighty powerful ways. Ways that are – "

"He's been using clones since we got here," Sasuke cut off, sounding harsh and severe and Harry might have believed it if he hadn't learned over the past few weeks to watch Sasuke's eyes. The way he glanced off to the left and pretended to study a shop they were passing was a clear give away that he was trying not to be entertained.

It was enough to make Harry smile but it didn't stop him from being confused. "He has?" he asked. He had seen Naruto's clones many a time now. Naruto liked showing them off. But he hadn't seen one since they left the shinobi countries.

"Oi!" Naruto yelled in only partially feigned outrage. "Don't sound so surprised! I can be sneaky!"

"Can and will, are two different things," Sakura drawled.

But Naruto did know where he was going. He turned left at the next street and into a narrow alleyway between two leaning buildings. Harry hesitated to walk off the main street. But he was traveling with four ninjas now, and they didn't even seem to notice how dark and empty it was. And sure enough, when they exited on the other side, they were on exactly the right street for Ollivander's.

Harry's paced quickened once more to keep up. "I haven't seen any of your clones," he commented. A group of Naruto's wandering around Diagon Alley would draw about as much attention as Hagrid did. Even the one Naruto had other pedestrians turning to see what was happening.

Naruto just shrugged. "I made them look like wizards."

"Particular wizards?" Harry quickly asked, feeling a little faint. The wizarding world was very small, and very sharply divided in many ways. If Naruto picked actual people to impersonate, it could end very badly. One misplaced word or action would be noticed and remembered. Might even start an argument. Would certainly give away that some kind of magic had been used. Which would lead to all kinds of questions they didn't want to handle yet.

"Naw, I tweaked them," Naruto reassured. "Look, there, that's a Shikamaru pretendin' to be a wizard," and he pointed to a familiar looking dark haired young man lurking in a shop doorway. The hair and face were the same as Naruto's friend, but he was wearing a dark green robe and had a stack of freshly bought parchment under one arm. He still managed to look bored out of his mind and about two seconds away from falling asleep.

"How many did you make?" Harry asked out of curiosity. Naruto's shadow clones were always a source of interest for him. The magic required to create something similar would be complex and difficult, but Naruto made it look as easy as a simple charm.

Naruto shrugged again. "Ten or so. I wanna see everything! Did ya know there's a food stand sellin' cockroaches? Cockroaches! And another guy a few streets over just tried to sell my Kiba clone a shrunken head. I wish I'd given the clones money. Are all wizards so easily flustered, cause there's this lady over thatta way that just slapped Neji-clone for looking at her funny. Not that I blame her, but – "

"Oh my god," Harry groaned as he grabbed on to Naruto's arm. "You have to stop that! You're going to cause trouble!"

Naurto's smile was about as big as it could get. "That's kinda the point, Harry-kun!"

Harry stared at him. "Are you," he started. "Are you trying to get banned from school before you even start?" Which, okay, Harry could see why Naruto wouldn't be keen about going back to school. Harry could admit that he was a little jealous that his cousin and his friends were already considered adults and free to do as they pleased. But he thought Naruto was serious about trying to learn magic and Harry had been kind of looking forward to training together.

Naruto shook his head, however. "I won't get caught," he boasted and Harry had heard that one before. In fact, he'd probably said it once or twice himself with as dubious a likelihood of being correct. But Naruto slung an arm over his shoulders and led them towards the door. "Look at it this way, if everyone's lookin' at my clones, nobody's watchin' us."

Which might be sort of brilliant, as long as Naruto's clones didn't get the Aurors called in or accidently start the next goblin war.

The chime on Ollivander's shop rang out loudly as they entered and they all crowded into the small foyer of the shop. It had been many years since Harry had last been there, but he hadn't forgotten a detail. Rows of thin narrow boxes stacked up all the way to the ceiling, with even more stacks scattered about, running down the hallway and over flowing on the nearest table. But no sign of the man himself. Harry tried to wait patiently. The others were silent as well, even Naruto was looking around with a focus that was rarely seen. Kakashi-sensei still had his book out, but it was clasped loosely in one hand as he bent over to peer at some of the closest boxes.

"Don't touch anything," Harry whispered. He wasn't sure what was going to happen when a ninja tried to use a wand, but he really didn't want to find out without permission.

Kakashi-sensei's only reply was to smile broadly back. It wasn't reassuring.

"I do hope everything is in good working order for you, Mr. Potter," a voice finally called out from behind one of the stacks. A moment later, a head of puffy white hair emerged, then the rest of the elderly wizard. He shuffled forward until he was standing in front of Harry and peered into his face as if that would tell him the state of things. Harry did his best to meet that gaze evenly before digging his letter out of his jean pocket. It was a bit wrinkled, but the Headmaster's signature was still pristine. It explained, in brief vague terms, why they were there.

"The Headmaster said you could help," Harry added as he waited for the letter to be read and then reread.

Ollivander looked up slowly, then turned his gaze to take in each one of his companions. "What the devilry is that old man up to now?" he muttered. Then he sighed and carefully folded the letter and tucked it into his vest. "I have yet to turn away a customer, so I suppose it is best we begin. Though I must protest at having such a large group. It is going to make narrowing down the process very difficult." He muttered some more to himself. Finally he sighed and gestured to Sasuke, who was standing closest. "Very well then, we will start with you. What sort of wand was your first one?"

"Um, sir?" Harry interjected before Sasuke could come up with some kind of lie. "They've never had wands before."

"Never had wands before?" Ollivander repeated in a faint voice. "How preposterous. Do not be ridiculous, young man. Oh, very well, then. I will at least need to know what sort of affinity you have. We do not want to be at this all day, do we?"

Sasuke's eyes were narrowed but he kept his tone civil. "Fire," he answered, keeping it simple.

But that only set Mr. Ollivander off muttering some more about the absurdity of it all. "I do hope you are not intentionally trying to waste my time," he told Harry firmly, turning away from Sasuke.

"Um, no sir," Harry answered. "What he meant was, ah, DADA. Yes, he's very good at that."

Ollivander peered at him for another long moment before turning away with a huff. "Ridiculous. But I suppose it is a place to start. Yes, perhaps it would be best to start here," and he pulled out his first offering. "Pine, with a unicorn hair core. 14 inches," he announced, some of the grandeur returning to his voice with the routine reestablished. He opened the box and held it out towards Sasuke like an offering. Sasuke stared at it for a moment and Harry could feel the others shifting to see around them to peer at it too. They had all inspected Harry's wand, repeatedly, but had been unable to get any kind of reaction out of it. This would be the first real chance one of them had to perform magic. Just when Ollivander looked ready to start complaining again, Sasuke reached out and snatched up the wand as if it were one of his snakes being unruly. Harry braced himself for the reaction. His cousin was prone to outbursts, some of them quite literally fiery, and he expected the worst.

The complete and utter lack of reaction was even more startling.

Ollivander snatched it back, stared at the wand for a moment, before shoving it back into its box and snapping the lid shut. "I think not," he said as he spun around to fetch another.

And another.

And another after that.

They went through about twenty without a single reaction, not so much as a breeze, before Ollivander declared it all but hopeless and moved to the next member of their group.

A significant amount of time later, after trying seemingly every wand in the shop, Ollivander declared himself finished with them. "I cannot make the impossible possible," he announced. He turned away and started cleaning up his stock. The others were just as frustrated. Naruto had taken to pouting in the corner after his turn was finished while Sasuke glared at the old wand maker as if this impediment was one of his making. Harry was also pretty sure that Kakashi-sensei had slipped one of the wands up his sleeve and didn't know how he was going to convince the man to put it back before they all got caught.

"Wait, please," he tried. "They have to have wands. They're coming to Hogwarts this year. Kakashi-sensei's going to be the assistant to the DADA instructor. They have to have some kind of wand!"

Ollivander paused in his work, looking up from the dusty boxes he had pulled down. "Assistant, you say? I suppose. It is not unheard of, in those cases. Yes, I might have something that will work. Wait here a moment," he ordered as if they hadn't spent most of the day doing just that.

They waited, but it was more than just a moment. Naruto relaxed enough from his pout to sit cross legged in the middle of the floor while Sakura and Sasuke went back to plotting out how to get the last of the supplies they needed as quickly as possible. The plan was to spend the night at the Leaky Cauldron before catching the train tomorrow morning. Sasuke had argued against using such a public establishment to overnight in, but Remus's letters had been very firm. It was the best possible option. It might be well-known, but it was also trusted and well protected as the entry point to wizarding London. The muggle world was out of the question. They had no choice, and eventually, Sasuke had agreed to the plan. But only on the condition that they finish their shopping quickly so he could have plenty of time to inspect the accommodations and set up his own security. Remus hadn't argued with that stipulation, but Harry knew better and it sounded ominous. His cousin could be _very_ thorough when he wanted to. And Merlin help them if anything tried to get through. Hopefully there would still be an inn by the time all of his traps and countermeasures went off.

Finally Ollivander returned, floating a large crate in front of him. It looked repurposed, and the bottom half was filled with what looked like merely loose sticks, but there were some proper Ollivander boxes tossed on top. He floated the box onto a short table. "I have to keep this in the back storage room, you understand," he said. "It is not a proper business," he told Harry with a firm tone. "I cannot have a thing like this just sitting out for all to see. Certain kinds of people would not understand." And for the way he said that, Harry could guess exactly what kinds of people he meant. "But one can sympathize. I cannot sell a proper wand to a squib," – Harry couldn't help but flinch at the word – "but that does not mean I cannot choose to sell an item of similar composition. For appearances sake only, mind you. But I suppose if Dumbledore sent you, then he knows what he is about."

Ollivander pulled the top boxes out first, lining them up and opening each one. This was a tradesman showing his wares and not a wandmaker encouraging new young wizards to let the wand pick them. "Wand construction is a tightly regulated practice, you know. Only certain materials are acceptable, and many of those materials are tightly controlled and must be registered for use. One does not simply come by dragonheart string. Clearly, such a thing cannot be used in a case like this. But I have several tolerable substitutions that I believe you will find gratifying. I've even had squibs report some increased awareness of magic with one of these, but of course we know that cannot actually be true. But it is helpful, I suppose, to have something similar to one's family and friends. The woods are easy to match. Some common favorites are Mahogany, Oak and Pine. I also have some Beech and Aspen. And Black Walnut and Ebony purely because they are so frequently requested, despite being poor choices, you understand, for something as indulgent as this. But I suppose there is no harm since they are all inert anyway, or close enough to it. The cores are the tricky part, naturally. But I've found several various suitable substitutions. I have found that customers like the sentimentality of elements from common familiars, and I have tried to use such natural elements as possible. Please have a look."

They weren't wands. Not proper ones. And Harry's heart sank a little at that. They had been so excited about this. And Harry had been sure that something must be possible, since his father had managed well enough. Harry had seen the things Kohona nin were capable of! They certainly weren't magic-less. It hurt a little to know this was something that Harry would never be able to share with his cousin. These fake wands would only be for appearances, and while he could understand the desire for that, it also seemed wrong in a way. Like it was another way to try to hide squib relatives from view. Doubtless Hermonie would have more than a few things to say about it, better than Harry ever could.

Kakashi-sensei didn't seem too worried about it, however. He waved his students forward and told them to pick something. Harry stood with them, looking over the options. They certainly looked like real wands. Some were plain but glossy while others were intricately carved the way some old wands were. Ollivander was suddenly the picture of patience as he waited for the four of them to make their selections. Naruto was quick to pick one, barely even looking at the choices before snatching up one a deep rich brown wood and a carefully carved handle. "Cedar, owl feather core, a bit long at 17 inches," Ollivander murmured. Naruto also didn't wait for Sasuke to make up his mind and instead confidently handed him one of the boxes with seemingly absolute faith that his choice would be trusted. It was the only black one available and elaborately detailed from top to bottom with a complex repeating pattern. Sasuke accepted it without a word but Ollivander went ahead and informed him it was Ebony with a rat's whisker. Sakura debated the longest, looking at each in turn and admiring the work of each. Finally she pointed to a spiral carved one made out of a wood that shifted through different shades of brown. Ollivander handed it to her gently, "Cypress, a beautiful wood, with a cat's whisker. One of my lovelier pieces of work and a very manageable length of 14 inches."

"Mah, a pretty wand for a pretty girl," Kakashi-sensei crooned as he patted her on the head. It should have been condescending but Sakura smiled back at him like they were both in on a joke. Harry was starting to learn what those looks meant. On Sakura, it usually meant she was about to teach you something the hard way. Kakashi-sensei then pointed over her shoulder at a very plain white one. "I'll take that one," he announced.

"Very good, sir," Ollivander replied. "Aspen with a peacock feather."

Somebody snorted, and it might have been Harry, but Kakashi-sensei just beamed back. "Excellent! And we'll take two more."

Ollivander froze, his hands already working to put away the remaining boxes. "Two…more?"

"Yes, of course. In case one breaks. You understand." It was clear Ollivander did not. In fact, it was clear that such a concept was entirely foreign to Ollivander and more than a little bit disturbing. Kakashi-sensei waved off his unvoiced protests however, and gestured to the crate of loose fake wands. "We can just take two of those," he said as he plucked out a plain tan one and a reddish one with a simple wood burning of rings around the bottom. "These will do!"

Ollivander made an abortive move to take them back before sighing loudly. "As you wish," he said curtly. "And if you happen to want to bother yourself with such things, that one is a Natural Oak, 15 inches, with a fine horse hair of similar color. The other is Mahogany, with a solid piece of snake skin, unbroken mind you, for a core. A delicate piece of work, that was. Hence the necessity of a shorter length."

"I'm sure it'll work great," Kakashi-sensei replied. Except they wouldn't work at all and they all knew it. Ollivander just shook his head and turned away to ring them up. Harry swallowed down his own disappointment and started counting out coins. The fake wands were more expensive than the normal ones. And while Harry didn't really care about the money, it seemed like one more insult to injury. He hoped Naruto wouldn't be too disappointed. There would still be a number of interesting things to see and do at Hogwarts. They would just have to focus on that.


	6. Chapter 6

A few hours before dawn, Naruto woke Sakura by tapping twice on her wrist, one long tap followed by a short one. It was Team 7's preferred signal for friendly. Standard procedure was to change signals every three months, but her boys were lazy about such things and they were still using the one they had switched to when Sasuke had returned to the village. It was dangerously ingrained into her psyche as safety and family and she woke with a small smile before she even opened her eyes.

"All clear?" she asked as she sat up. She stretched her arms up above her head, rolling her shoulders and loosening her back. She tugged her shirt back into place and started checking that all of her weapons were still in proper order.

"Not a peep!" Naruto confirmed, his voice little more than a whisper. The rest of the room slept quietly as Sakura got up to take her shift.

The first room they had been shown to had four beds, separated into two sections and had windows facing the main street and a fireplace big enough to stand in. Sasuke had rejected it as soon as he had stepped through the door and had demanded the owner find them something better. The man's protests that this was his best room died out quickly under Sasuke's glare. The only other opening was this small, narrow two bed option. It ran along the end of the building, the wall buttressed up with its neighbor, leaving only the one door and one double window. It had been deemed passable and the proprietor kicked out so Sasuke could start laying his trip wires. Lots and lots of trip wires, as well as other alarms, traps and barriers. Team 7 had left him to it. They all knew the procedure, and while Naruto couldn't help but make a few suggestions, they also understood Sasuke's need to take control of the process. It was clear that that would be the only way Sasuke would feel safe enough to sleep that night.

Harry had just sighed and settled himself in for the evening. It was quickly decided that Naruto and Harry would share a bed while Sasuke took first watch and Sakura and Kakashi-sensei shared the other bed. Harry had been quite comfortable with the idea of doubling up, but had turned bright red at the mere possibility that Sakura would be his partner. Miraculously, Kakashi-sensei had had enough sense to keep his own mouth shut on the matter. Harry could be a very practical young man, much more so than the average civilian, but he clearly wasn't used to field sleeping etiquettes or lack thereof. According to Harry's sensibilities, since Kakashi-sensei was a teacher and hence an 'adult', it was okay for him to share with Sakura. Apparently, he was too old for Harry to be scandalized by and was by default the only safe option. A subtlety that none of them missed and some of them were much more entertained by than others. Kakashi-sensei almost seemed offended to be considered too old to be a potential pervert. From Sakura's point of view, she had spent too many years sharing sleeping space with her teammates and other nin to even notice, except that Kakashi-sensei didn't snore (like some blond kunoichi) or kick in the middle of the night (like some blond demon holders).

Traditionally, since Naruto took second watch, he would then take her place on the bed while she took his on the watch. But the boy was already sitting on the edge of Sasuke and Harry's bed and simply flopped over to lay across the end of it. It looked terribly uncomfortable. Sakura stared at them for a moment, debating her own options after her shift. It would be Kakashi-sensei's turn next, which would mean she could have a whole bed all to herself. Or she could see if she could squeeze into the upper corner with her boys. Harry-kun couldn't complain too much if Sasuke and Naruto were there as well.

She had two hours, however, between then and now. She checked their defenses, working her way outward from the inner ones to those running the perimeter. Naruto would have checked as well before going off of watch, but a good shinobi never assumed. Once everything was clear, she settled in near the door, but with a clear view of the window. They had agreed that the most likely point of egress was the door, but it never hurt to be careful. She sat on the wooden floor and slowly let herself slip into the half-meditative state she used for guard duty. There wasn't much to observe in the room itself, so she let her senses stretch to see how much she could discern about the rest of the building and even the streets beyond. It was a busy establishment. There were a number of different noises to separate. The man next door snored, with every third inhale louder than the others. The family below had settled down long ago, but their cat was prowling restlessly, almost as if it were holding its own nocturnal sentry. The bar on the ground floor had closed only a couple of hours before, but the faint scent of yeast and burnt grease was ever present. There was someone walking slowly down the street outside, gait heavy but uneven, tired and probably heading home. She listened to it until the person rounded the corner. Time passed. Then a floorboard in the hallway creaked, without warning.

Sakura had her feet under her and grabbed the nearest blunt object at hand. It was a ration bar from her pocket and she tossed it underhand across the room to thump silently on the dip that was Kakashi-sensei's side. She didn't wait for his reaction. She had a kunai in one hand and was gently pulling apart the main seals over the door. It disassembled easily from this side, and she lifted the latch soundlessly and slipped out into the hall. The door closed behind her just as quietly and she could sense Kakashi-sensei standing on the other side, already replacing the protections on the door.

That left Sakura alone in the dark and she smiled slowly. They had traded out their nin clothing for something more culturally appropriate, and the folds of the robe-like dress she wore made it easy to stand with her hand loose at her side, kunai concealed by the extra fabric. It could be a false alarm. There were so many new things here, such a different pace of life from a nin village or even the shiny modern 'muggle' world that they had first encountered looking for Harry. The differences made it hard to identify what was unusual or unexpected or dangerous. She didn't want to scare another guest or cause any trouble.

She took a moment to take in the environment. The hallway was narrow, with a waist high cabinet halfway down that made it even tighter. The floor was tilted sharply enough that she had to bend her knee and shift that foot to compensate. These wizards seemed inordinately fond of shoddy craftsmanship and seemed to value having things always slightly off kilter. They had yet to figure out what the strategic advantage it gave, but they were already learning to compensate for it. The only light in the hallway was a faint glow that was supposed to be natural candle light, but was too pale and consistent. It let her see the shape and texture of things, but not the color.

The dark shape at the end of the hall tensed when it saw her.

Probably not another guest, then. But she played along, shuffling forward like she needed an early morning trip to the loo. After a moment, the hunched figure straightened as well and walked towards her as if nothing about this was odd. She managed an absentminded nod of greeting as they started to pass each other. There were still two doors between them and her team, but she had no doubt where he was headed. As soon as she was alongside her target, she acted.

She let her bent knee drop even further, bringing her down and under as she lashed out with her kunai. She twisted her wrist, bringing the heavy metal pommel to bear against the man's side. It was the non-fatal, non-chakra charged option, but still effective. The man's body was twisted around with the force of the blow, slamming heavily into the wall behind him with a gasp. Good. She had knocked the air out of his lungs, bruised the surrounding muscle and possibly cracked a rib. Nothing too significant.

"Going somewhere?" she asked sweetly.

"Bitch!" he gasped out as his hand reached for something.

She flipped her kunai from one hand to the other, the sharp edge flashing even in the dim light. She watched his eyes track the movement, wide and startled that someone would dare, and she lashed out with her now empty hand, giving him a gentle love tap to the side of his head that sent him staggering back down the hallway, away from her teammates and careening into the hall table. "Oops," she said. "Didn't hear you. Care to repeat that?" It was a satisfying blow, though perhaps not a wise one. It gave her opponent space and put him just out of her reach. Sakura's greatest weapons would always be her own two hands and they had already established that these wizard types liked an open battlefield. Kakashi-sensei would lecture her about this when he found out. Sakura grimaced. At least the blow dazed him enough that he fumbled with his wand. Harry had explained how important a proper incantation and the positioning of a wand was for a spell, but he had also warned them that he had had a number of times when a half formed spell had worked almost as well, if not better, in a combat situation.

The key was not to give your opponent an opening. Not even for a second.

She ducked down low, shifted her grip to throw the kunai. They had been hoping to avoid drawing attention as long as possible by not using anything distinctive that screamed nin, but she was only going to have one chance to silence him. She couldn't afford for him to get off a spell. There was a moment as he fumbled to reorient his wand. A moment when she saw the white mask covering his face. A moment as she prepared to strike. Then the door next to her banged open.

"What in the name of Merlin is going on out here?" an old man demanded in a loud voice. He was wearing purple striped pajamas under a yellow and black robe and had a face that looked like he had just bitten into a lemon. Sakura shifted her weight, cursing poorly timed civilians even as she moved to offer what protection she could. But the man didn't even see the cloaked figure. He was too busy yelling – loudly. "Young lady! Do you have any notion to what hour of the night it is? Making such racket when other paying patrons are trying to sleep. What nonsense is this! Children are to be seen not heard! It is ridiculous that a man cannot conduct his business affairs without being overrun by ill-mannered children, and to have that extend into the night!"

So much for not drawing attention. Other doors were creaking open, though not the one her teammates were secured behind. They knew better than to stick their noses out. But the civilians didn't, and more of them peeked bleary eyed out of their doorways to see what the ruckus was about. There was a muttered curse and then a loud pop from down the hall that had Sakura ducking instinctively. But nothing came flying at her. Instead, the hooded and masked figure was gone and Sakura was left with no one else to blame.

The man in the door jerked at the sound and looked down the hall anxiously. For the first time since he had come out, he seemed to realize that maybe there was more to the situation than his annoyance. But just as quickly he seemed to dismiss the idea and turned back to glaring at Sakura. "Well?" he demanded. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. She liked civilians. She had to remind herself of that. They were straight forward and open and the very heart of a village that made it feel like home. No matter how annoyingly oblivious some of them might be at times. It was like dealing with her parents, which was enough to make her feel twitchy.

Thankfully, the same tactics she used on her parents were also effective in the field.

Sakura's kunai disappeared into one pocket and she brought her now empty hands out in front of her and clutched them. She widened her eyes and let her lip tremble. "I'm so sorry!" she said in a rush and in a higher, squeakier voice than she'd normally ever let herself use. "I got lost and I couldn't see and I tripped on the table and I hurt my toe and I'm really, really sorry, sir, I didn't mean to cause any trouble!" She kept the stream of words coming out of her mouth steady as she slowly side stepped around the man and backed toward her door. She threw in a pathetic sniffle for good measure. She had her eyes open as wide as they would get and it didn't take much to manufacture a little wetness there.

The man blinked back at her. "Well, now," he said, clearing his throat uncomfortably. "No reason to cry over it."

Bingo. Sakura let out a hiccup and blinked rapidly until her eyes were watering from the abuse. "But I'm just so sorry! I've never been here before and the hallways are scary at night and I – "

"Yes, well!" the man interrupted, his own voice going loud and sharp. "No harm done. Off to bed with you now."

"Oh, yes," she cooed, already walking backwards. "Very sorry. Won't happen again. Have a good night!" She was alongside her own door now and it opened on its own just at the right time for her to duck out of sight. Kakashi-sensei closed it after her and immediately reset their traps, with a couple of extra ones thrown in for good measure.

He smiled brightly when he finally turned to face her. "I knew there was a reason you were my favorite!"

Sakura wiped her cheeks off with one hand. "What? Because I can cry on cue?"

"Yes!"

"It is kind of creepy," Sasuke added, quietly. He had shifted into a half seated position that put him almost hovering over a sleeping Naruto and Harry. Neither of the sleeping boys seemed to have noticed the disruption, and the three awake nin kept their voices soft and low.

Sakura glared back at Sasuke's commentary. "Yes, emotions are scary, scary things."

He didn't rise to the bait. "Your opponent?"

Sakura grimaced even more. "Gone," she growled. "Transportation jutsu."

"I'm sure you left him with a few bruises," Kakashi-sensei reassured.

"She should have killed him," Sasuke grumbled.

"And have every eye in this establishment focused on us?" Kakashi-sensei asked sharply. "I don't think so. No ninjutsu. Basic taijutsu only for now. You handled it well, Sakura-chan."

Sakura rolled her eyes but accepted the praise. She didn't need him to defend her choices to Sasuke. Her teammate would either relearn to trust her judgment or not. Given the circumstances, however, she was willing to be gracious and cut him some slack. Protecting your family made you do some stupid things. "What do we tell Harry in the morning?" The boy had Naruto's talent of sleeping deeply.

Sasuke gave the expected reply. "Nothing."

"I agree," Kakashi-sensei added, before a debate could start. "No sense worrying the boy at this stage. We knew there would be a threat."

"I didn't think it would start this early!" Sakura said with a sigh. "He made it sound much more contained."

"Yes," Kakashi-sensei drawled. "He is good at that, isn't he? We knew the risks coming into this mission. The Hokage assigned us as a team for a reason. The more interactions we have, the better we'll be able to judge future threats."

Sasuke scowled. "It is about damn time we had the opportunity to gather our own intelligence."

"You don't think Harry lied to us, do you?"

"No," Sasuke huffed. "But I know he is a damn fool who refuses to cooperate with his own wellbeing."

Sakura smiled sweetly. "Frustrating, is that?"

Sasuke's face darkened into something that someone might have called a pout. If that someone were suicidal. "Are you going to harp on that this entire mission?"

"Probably."

"You are as bad as the dobe."

She flashed him a bright smile. "Why thank you!"

Kakashi-sensei bopped her lightly on the head. "Okay! Enough flirting. I'll take over the rest of the watch. Behave yourselves."

Sakura shot him a glare, tempted to return with her own 'gentle' tap, but part of their team was sleeping and there was no good reason for waking them up with a brawl. Sasuke grumbled as well, but automatically shifted over to make room for her. The bed was definitely crowded with four people, but Team 7 was used to dealing with each other's elbows and knees and made the most of their space.

The room quieted back down. Kakashi-sensei took up her post, his book tucked out of sight. Instead he twirled one of the wands they had bought that day – the oak one he'd grabbed as a spare – between his fingers. It spun around slowly, in a lazily pattern that had it tripping over his knuckles with each pass. It was soothing to watch. It didn't look like Kakashi-sensei had any sort of goal in mind, but one never knew with him. He could just be bored. He was probably just familiarizing himself with a new tool for their mission. It was possible he was unlocking all of its secrets just through osmosis. One never knew.

"They won't back down so easily next time," Sakura whispered to Sasuke. "He wasn't expecting me to fight back. I barely confronted him and he ran."

Sasuke hummed in agreement. "They will come back with more force next time. They expected to find someone unsuspecting and half-trained. They will know next time that it will not be that easy for them to get close to Harry." There was a quiet pause before Sasuke huffed out a sigh. "Kakashi-sensei is right. The less they know about us the better. We need them to underestimate us."

"If we can't use the wands, we're going to be seriously handicapped." She hadn't wanted to say it in front of Harry or Naruto. The former would just worry and the latter would rail against the idea that there was something out there that he couldn't do.

"We have overcome worse."

Sakura smiled and let herself relax. That they had. Against all odds Team 7 was here together. They could handle anything.


	7. Chapter 7

Morning came bright and early, and with an elbow in Naruto's spleen. He squawked in response and tried to pin the arm down using his knee. It was a reasonable reaction for assaulting a poor person in his richly deserved sleep. The scuffle that followed was half-hearted at best, but involved extensive use of sharp jabs, bruising pinches and the occasional heavy punch to soft fleshy bits. It wasn't until the struggle rolled him out of bed, his assailant landing (unreasonable) hard on top of him that Naruto woke up enough to worry about who he was struggling with. He stiffened, his arms tightening in their grip around the person on top of him as if holding him still now could somehow prevent previous injury.

"Dobe," Sasuke huffed and jabbed him once more in his kidney. It had the desired effect. Naruto immediately released him, curling up defensively with a loud moan.

Sasuke huffed again before rolling to his feet smoothly, detangling himself from Naruto and stepping away. But not without one last kick at Naruto's butt.

"Teme! You shouldn't kick a man when he's down!"

"You shouldn't lose," he retorted.

Naruto covered his face and tried to will the wooden floor of the hotel room to be as comfortable as the bed had been. Or at least enough for him to go back to sleep. "Didn't lose," he argued. "I responsibly refrained from unleashing my full potential on a poor unsuspecting innocent."

Sasuke said nothing at first, the room filled only with the sounds of the others rustling bags and moving around. "Idiot. That's the worst excuse I think I've ever heard for losing a fight."

Naruto uncovered his face enough to glare back at the other boy. Sasuke had been up long enough that his stupid hair was combed back and straight up, not that anyone else would know that look was an improvement if they hadn't already seen the almighty Uchiha with bedhead. He only had half his equipment on, however, and didn't seem in a rush to gather the rest, so Naruto figured he had some time. Morning scuffles weren't unusual for them, though the past few weeks of travel had put a damper on things. Hard to horse around when one of you was always on watch. It was good to see Sasuke still had a sense of humor under all that serious face he'd been sporting since they left the protections of Konoha. That didn't mean Naruto had to appreciate being ambushed and then mocked for his very justified caution. "I thought you might be Harry!" he grumbled. They'd ended up crashing together in one bed last night, which was good, cause then Naruto would definitely know if something happened, 'cause any son-of-a-bitch that tried would literally have to go through him. But it did mean there were extra breakable limbs to watch out for.

Sasuke paused to glare down at him, that old familiar grumpiness back. "You better not hit my cousin like that." Which, you know, was totally true. He and Sasuke had a lot of experience taking a hit. It wasn't even something they had to consciously think about any more. They had the training, the chakra, and the endurance to shrug off what Kakashi-sensei called 'love-taps' in training. While his weren't quite as hard as Sakura's (no one with any common sense exchanged blows with her for fun) it was still enough to do damage to a civilian. They were working with Harry on that, showing him how to roll with a hit and when to stand his ground, but the chakra element was still slow going, despite Sakura's best efforts, and without that added boost, Harry wasn't going to be up for one of their wrestling matches any time soon. Using chakra to subconsciously absorb a hit was something most nin learned from a very early age. Harry was doing great for a newbie but it was still a work in progress.

Naruto knew that, and he knew Sasuke knew that he knew. So really, Sasuke was being ridiculous as always and Naruto was in the right. "You shouldn't wake me up like that then!" he argued back. He stuck his tongue out before burying his head once more in his arms. The floor was a bit chilly, the weather here being cooler and more moist than Naruto was used to. That wasn't enough to deter him, however. He could sleep anywhere.

"Whatever," Sasuke snorted, his voice muffled as he moved away. "Hurry up, you're late," he ordered. "You're getting to be just like Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto's head snapped up. "Bastard! Take that back!" Those were fighting words. And Naruto was ready to prove himself once more, except this time, there wouldn't be any taking mercy. He'd remind Sasuke just who was the better brawler here. He rolled his weight over, getting the balls of his feet under him and pushing off in one smooth motion.

Sakura-chan caught him by the collar of his sleep shirt. "You've got ten minutes to pack and eat, Naruto!" she told him firmly before letting him go without warning and nearly sending him face first into the floor. How cruel. But at least she dropped a ration bar on his head before moving off to finish packing. Naruto snatched it up and was peeling back the sticky cover before he finished twisting around to sit. The floor was as good of a place as any to enjoy his breakfast and it gave him a good view of the room.

Kakashi-sensei was still in bed, sprawled out with his book covering his face. But he had his gear on, even the extra stuff he usually took off when taking a nap. Sasuke was packing their stuff while Sakura rewound the wire they had used the night before. All the traps were disassembled and there was a half-eaten plate of real food on the table that had to be Harry's. He hated beans and that was the one thing that hadn't even been touched. Naruto eyed it and weighed the likelihood of Sasuke letting him clean up the mess by finishing it versus the likelihood of Harry taking pity on him and giving it to him if he whined properly. Which Uchiha to try to con…. Speaking of the second Uchiha, he was curled up by the window, using the morning light to read something. Or rather, a lot of somethings. There was a whole pile of papers in his lap and he held on to them tightly as he skimmed through the one in his hand.

"Mail came with breakfast," Sasuke grunted and jerked his head towards the corner of the room. Where there was a great big bird. Which okay, Naruto was kind of used to odd animals being about, either as part of some family bloodline or summoning contract, but most of them didn't stare back at you with creepy black eyes. Thank fuck the thing finally blinked. It was starting to scare him. Harry had said something about owls, and using them for mail, and how he happy he had been to see his again. Naruto had missed out on that first meeting and was now glad he had. For some reason Naruto had expected something smaller. And fluffier. Something that looked less likely to rip your eyeballs out if you looked at it wrong.

"Here," was the only warning Naruto had before Sasuke dropped the plate of sloppy food in Naruto's lap. He managed to catch it without spilling the sauce on his pants and took the time to glare up at the other boy before dropping his half eaten bar on a cleaned spot and digging into the warm food first.

"Nothin' bad?" he asked around a mouth full.

Sasuke shook his head, eyes focused on the bag in front of him, arranging their supplies just so like the obsessive freak he was. But he was listening for any changes with Harry. It was still hovering, but less creepy and Naruto shoved a piece of half-eaten toast his way as a reward.

Sasuke rolled his eyes but took the food anyway, eating it in two clean bites without a crumb left behind. Bastard made even eating look graceful. "There was an incident last night."

Naruto rolled his eyes up to look at him, still busy shoveling food into his mouth. "Care ta be more specific, teme?" he grumbled around a bite.

Sasuke kept his voice low and level so as not to draw certain unwanted attention. "Someone skulking about last night. Sakura handled it."

Naruto beamed. Of course she did. Though that didn't really answer his question. "Handled it how?"

Sasuke scowled even more and that told Naruto more than enough. If the teme had had someone to vent his pent up frustration on, then he would be less grumpy. Relatively less, anyway. Eventually, Sasuke pulled his head out of his ass and managed to explain in a little more detail. "We were unable to identify his exact goal or to detain him for further questioning." 'Questioning' was also known as the venting of said epic man-pain. The denial of which made for an extra grumpy Sasuke-teme.

Naruto nodded along. They'd known what they were getting into. Protection details sucked. There were always a million things that could go wrong, and it only took one moment of weakness to fail. But Team 7 wasn't awesome for no reason and they'd never had more motivation to succeed. Sasuke might not have had the chance to terrorize one of these missing-nin wizards, but Sakura had managed to scare the man off without Harry being the wiser. Not a total loss.

Harry was still distracted by his letters. Apparently he'd missed a lot of mail and was excited by all of it. He laughed every now and then, alternating between smiling broadly down at something he'd read or scowling as his eyes darted over the information as fast as possible. Sasuke would probably wanna borrow those later to see if there was anything useful in them. And while it probably bordered once more on the creepy side, Naruto could understand the need for more information.

Sakura threw Naruto's jacket into his face and he squawked. Apparently it was time to get moving. He grabbed his pack and the couple of things he had pulled out of it, cramming them back in even as he flung the pack over his shoulder.

"We should probably get going," she called out to Harry, not throwing anything at him.

Harry's head jerked up, his eyes quickly taking in the state of the room, before fumbling to shove all of his letters into his bag. He didn't have much to gather other than his bird. She stepped daintily from her perch onto Harry's arm and then into the cage without a single incident, which was impressive when you knew how sharp those claws could be. The cage was metal and big enough to fit her size comfortably, the frame a bit worn in parts but cleaned until it shined. The weight of it and balance needed to carry it upright left Harry standing at a weird angle, but the stubborn look on his face and the tight grip he had on the handle made it clear no one else was carrying her.

The bird still kept staring at him and it was giving Naruto the creeps. But he was also kind of wondering if they could teach it to maul their enemies. It would make a great attack bird.

Kakashi-sensei snapped his book shut and rolled to his feet. He pulled out the six wands they bought the other day and held them out silently. Each of them grabbed one, Naruto ending up with the reddish brown one with the burn marks on it. It wasn't the one he'd picked up yesterday, but since nothing seemed to be working for them anyway, it didn't matter.

Except Harry had this pained look on his face. "You know," he started faintly, "wizards really only ever use one wand, unless things have really gone wrong."

Kakashi-sensei shrugged and squirreled away the remaining two unclaimed ones. "Since our experiments with magic have yet to go right, there should be little harm in varying our methods. Until we figure out how to channel chakra into magic, this is merely for show."

Sakura twirled the white one experimentally. "Maybe we'll have a better understanding of how to help Harry tap into his own chakra reserves if we can figure out the connection."

"Assuming there is one," Sasuke grumbled as optimistically as ever.

"We'll figure it out," Harry insisted. He hadn't seemed too heartbroken that they hadn't had much luck teaching him jutsus (really no luck, but Naruto was an optimist and was certain they were close to a break through if they just kept trying) but conversely he seemed completely convinced that at least some magic should be possible for them. "Afterall," he had said, "You wouldn't be able to see it if you weren't at least somewhat sensitive to it."

"We're going to be late," Kakashi-sensei said with a completely straight face (what they could see of it) as he walked to the door. Naruto growled and complained about the hypocrisy of it all, but followed diligently. He couldn't remember ever being this excited about school and never thought he'd willing go back, but this was exploring unknown territory and new abilities and meeting all of Harry's friends, just like he'd met all of theirs back home. It was going to be awesome. Naruto would make sure of it.

He just had to survive public transportation without breaking anything.


	8. Chapter 8

Hermonie Granger allowed herself one last lingering hug with both of her parents, before letting go of them, grasping her cart tightly, and crossing the barrier to Platform 9¾. And just like every year before, there was the odd mixture of homesickness and relief, trepidation and wonder. She missed home every time she left it, just as much as she missed the wizarding world at the end of every school year and couldn't wait to return. She never felt as safe in the wizarding world as she did in the house of her parents, but she also never felt as powerful anywhere else as she did with her wand in one hand and her friends at her side. It had been a long summer, hot and humid and overcast with the threat of what was to come after the attack at the Ministry of Magic. The tension and trouble that had always surrounded her and her friends had finally exploded outward to engulf the rest of their world. Hermonie didn't know if that would make the coming challenges easier to face or not. It certainly meant changes for everyone and she was determined to face that head on.

Starting with finding one Harry James Potter and demanding to know why he hadn't bothered to write in over a month. She had already contacted members of the Order of the Phoenix, expressing her deep concerns over the lack of communication from her friend. Letters in the summer were one of Harry's favorite things and his one reminder that things would get better. That he wasn't alone. The very notation that he would not respond was ridiculous. Something must have happened to prevent him from responding, and knowing Harry, it was highly unlikely it was anything positive. But her frantic letters to the Order had been largely ignored, only vague platitudes sent in reply. 'Harry is in a safe location.' 'Harry will return to school as usual and should not be of concern.' 'Don't overreact.'

"Ridiculous," she muttered once more. They clearly did not know Harry very well. There was no such thing as overreacting when it came to the trouble he could get into.

The platform was the usual bustle of excited students and hovering parents. Hermonie's parents had never been allowed to this point. They said their goodbyes beforehand and Hermonie was accustomed to managing on her own. A quick charm had her baggage in order and she set out to find her friends. Harry had a talent for blending into a crowd, despite his fame, but the Weasleys could always be counted on to draw attention and where the Weasleys were Harry was sure to be. It was early yet, however, and there was only the occasional redhead to be seen and none as bright or lively as those she was looking for. Just to be sure, she looped around the area, eyes scanning the crowd and she looked right passed him.

"Hermonie!" his voice cried out, clear and cheerful. An arm waved overhead and Hermonie stopped abruptly and turned to look. Near one of the pillars was a group of four students. She didn't recognize three of them. They looked to be her age, and were wearing the traditional school robes, but she had never seen a girl with pink hair before or the boy who smiled so much or the boy who frowned so much.

She did recognize Harry. The relief of seeing him whole and safe and happy was so sudden and sharp it almost made her gasp. She had tried not to worry about him over the summer. Had told herself firmly that things would be fine. The Order was watching out for him, that she needn't worry so, and that it was silly for her to do so. But she also remembered the look on his face at the end of last year. The pain and the fear they all went through. He had been stuck in her mind just the way he was at the end of all that and she hadn't realized how much it hurt until she saw him well again.

"Harry!" she cried back, laughing in delight and rushing over to throw her arms around him. Her boys were boys and weren't terribly fond of public displays of affection, but they made exceptions for her and she always got her beginning of year hug, even when they had been young and shy.

Harry hugged her back, feeling taller and stronger even though he couldn't have changed much in a few short months. For a brief moment, he held her tight before stepping back and grinning at her. "Excited for more classes?" he teased.

"Always!"

They took a moment to study each other, noting what changes they could as if the summer should be written out on their skin.

Then she smacked him. It wasn't a very hard smack and was only against his shoulder, but she hoped he understood the depth of feeling behind it. "Harry Potter! How dare you not write! I was about near out of my mind with worry!"

Harry had the gall to laugh, but he flattened his hair nervously and said "sorry about that. It was kind of a crazy summer."

"Humph!" she replied, stopping one foot sharply. "That's no excuse. Your friends were worried sick about you. And I expect to be told everything. What happened? Are you alright? Why didn't you go to the Weasleys?"

"I'm fine, 'monie," Harry muttered with a blush and a smile.

She huffed again but had to agree. He looked fine. He looked better than fine, actually. For the first time, Harry actually looked healthier and happier coming back from summer vacation and not worse. It was almost as if he had gone on holiday. Which, certainly, she wouldn't begrudge him, but if she found out he hadn't written because he was too busy sunning on some beach, she was going to do more than thwap him on the shoulder.

"You better apologize to Ron too," she told him. "He's tried all summer to get some information out of his parents, but they insisted they had nothing they could share. He was very determined, you know. Made things a bit uncomfortable in the household with his constant efforts to uncover the truth."

Harry grimaced, but nodded his head dutifully. "I didn't mean to cause trouble. They probably really didn't know where I was. But I'll apologize as soon as they get here."

Hermonie stared at him, feeling a little lost and not liking it. "Harry, just where were you?" she demanded more seriously.

But Harry shook his head. "Not now. Not here. I'll tell you later. Promise." And of course she couldn't argue with that. It was probably Order business, and it wasn't as if they could discuss something like that in the middle of Platform 9¾. It would have to wait until they were on the train, assuming they could get a compartment to themselves.

"Um, Hermonie?" Harry said, his voice tentative. "I kind of wanted to introduce you to some people." Which was odd, since there were very few people that Harry had a chance to meet that Hermonie wasn't right there with him. But he gestured to the three students standing behind him.

Apparently the excitement for the year had already started. The last time there were new students at Hogwarts there was a Championship and someone died. Hermonie drew herself up to her full height and studied this change in her world closely. It was just the three of them. The dark haired boy didn't even glance over at her, too busy watching the crowd around them. The girl with pink hair had eyebrows to match and bright green eyes. It made her look a little like Tonks, but Hermonie was aware of just how rare a trait metamorphmagus was. It was probably some kind of wizarding fad that Hogwarts had the better sense than to allow. The smiling boy grinned even more and waved at her.

Harry smiled at them the way he only did for a few people. Hermonie saw it sometimes in the Gryffindor common room or during a particularly productive DA meeting. It was the same look Harry got when he was talking about the Weasleys, or Professor Lupin, or Sirius before his death. Just what these people had done to earn that look she wasn't sure.

And Hermonie hated not knowing something.

"This is Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzimaki," Harry told her, pointing at each of them in turn.

"Hi!" the blond said cheerfully while the girl smiled.

Hermonie stared at them. "Good morning," she replied stiffly.

Harry didn't seem to notice how uncomfortable she was because he continued on still smiling brightly as if he had just won a Qudditch game. "This is Hermonie Granger. Smartest witch of our generation and one of my best friends."

It was silly to still be flattered whenever Harry called her smart. Hermonie knew she was clever. And she had spent enough time over the past five years trying to drill some knowledge into the boy's head to know he also knew as much. And she honestly couldn't care about Harry's fame. She hadn't grown up on stories of the wonderful Boy-Who-Lived and Harry had always been just Harry. That soft-spoken, awkward boy on the train who hadn't laughed at her and actually listened to her when she talked (at least most of the time). But that wasn't the way other people saw Harry. And because of that, people didn't just stop to hear what he had to say, they tended to actually _listen_. Being called the smartest witch by her friend Harry was to be expected. Being called the smartest witch by Harry Potter was commendable.

The effect wasn't lost on these new students. The dark haired boy turned his head slowly to study her and Hermonie did her best to meet that gaze with all the confidence surviving the last five years had given her. She was not going to be intimidated on the first day of school. No matter how creepy the other person might be. One would think a new student and a visitor might make more of an effort to be friendly, but that wasn't Hermonie's problem. She kept her chin up and pointedly turned to face Harry, making it quite clear that she had more important things to think about.

Harry laughed awkwardly and Hermonie stared at him. Harry had always been a quiet boy, despite everything that seemed to happen to and around him. You could say it was part of his charm. He was so unassuming it was hard not to like him. But he had never been shy. But this, apparently, was what a shy Harry looked like. He flattened his hair one more time, trying to hide the scar that made him famous. His eyes kept darting around behind his glasses, as if he expected a surprise hex.

Something important was happening here, she just didn't know what. And Harry was clearly very worried it was about to go bad.

"Harry?" she asked quietly, moving a bit closer and slipping her hand into the pocket with her wand, just in case. It was odd to see him here on his own. Usually a member of the Order was with him whenever he was outside of Hogwarts. Even before they had known about the Order, there had always been someone watching over Harry. She would just have to be that person until the others showed up. Ron was so much better at getting Harry to talk about what was bothering him and she wished he was there.

Harry looked over at her, his eyes dropping to her hidden hand. "It's okay," he said quickly, and just like that, his whole demeanor relaxed. As if being brave for her made him calm. It was ridiculous and didn't help her to understand the situation at all.

"We're going to talk," she told him stiffly. It wasn't a question.

He grimaced a little, then managed a cheeky grin before nodding. "Later?"

She sighed but nodded. She turned back to his new companions. "Welcome and I hope you enjoy your time at Hogwarts," she said as politely as possible. "Though Harry has neglected to mention what brings you to our school."

"Oh!" he said. "Right. Um, their teacher is going to be helping the new DADA teacher, so they're going to come sit in on classes. And stuff. Like an exchange."

"We want to learn very much from you," the pink haired girl said in a way that sounded very fixed, like it was the proper response to a specific prompt.

Hermonie's smile was just as stilted. "I wasn't aware that our school participated in such programs outside of the Championship. The new DADA teacher you said?" she asked Harry.

He hesitated. "Yes?"

"And do we know who that is?"

"Um, no? Not yet. I mean, Kakashi-sensei will just be the assistant. I guess."

Which was also ridiculous and raised more questions than it answered. But it was clear getting any kind of proper information out of her friend was going to have to wait. "I see," she said. "Well, hopefully we will have better luck this year than we have in the past." She stressed the last part, hoping Harry understood exactly what she meant. If they could get through the year without the DADA teacher trying to kill Harry, that would be great. Since there was now apparently going to be two DADA instructors, she wasn't very confident.

Harry shook his head. "No, no, Kakashi's very…nice. I'm sure we'll learn lots. That's important right?"

Hermonie sighed. Harry was such a terrible liar to his friends, but she didn't have the heart to tell him so. He knew how to side-step his way out of trouble when it came to dealing with adults, but he had yet to master avoiding his friends. And to be honest, she wasn't in a rush to correct him on that. "You already know him?" she asked, raising one eyebrow and flicking her eyes to his new friends.

"Oh, um, yes? Kind of. Briefly. Professor Lupin arranged things!" he suddenly announced and smiled, proud of himself. "Yes! So, um, that's why I thought we could help introduce people. You know."

"Right," she replied. "I'm sure the Headmaster appreciated Professor Lupin's advice on filling the vacant spot. He was the only teacher we've had that didn't end up being a criminal of some kind." She saw the way the three new students startled and felt a bit more in control. Whatever was going on, she wanted them to know she'd be watching very carefully for any hint of foul play. What was more interesting was the way Harry's eyes widened and he shook his head as if he didn't want them knowing that. She ignored that for now and pulled out her best manners. "As one of the Prefects, I would be happy to show you around," she told them. It was also the perfect way to keep an eye on them in case they caused trouble. Harry was oddly taken with them, but that didn't mean they weren't dangerous.

But Harry, bless his heart, smiled at her like it was a personal favor. It was the way he looked when she caved the night before a big paper was due and helped walk the boys through the process (so they'd learn something at least) or when she came out to a Quidditch matches even if she'd rather be studying in the warm library. It almost made her feel a little guilty for being so suspicious. Not enough to stop, but still enough to make her flush slightly and try to smooth things over. "Why don't I help you find a compartment?" she said. She might as well. Harry clearly was not going to be explaining himself any time soon, and as much as she liked seeing the Weasleys, she had already visited with them this summer. There was no one else on the platform for her to say goodbye to.

"No," the dark haired boy snapped. His eyes flicked over to her briefly before he went back to watching the crowd without any form of explanation.

Hermonie's face flush and she felt like she must look similar to the way Crookshanks looked when he bristled.

But then the blond boy punched him, hard, in the shoulder. "Be nice to Harry's friends," he said. Which wasn't exactly proper. He ought to be polite no matter who the person was or who they were friends with – but she still appreciated the censure. Even if the only thing the boy did was glare back at his own companion before turning to watch the crowd once more.

"We would rather stay here with Harry," the girl added. She smiled brightly at Hermonie and Hermonie had to resist the urge to frown back. Most of the students at Hogwarts had learned by now that while Harry might have great things ahead of him (and some not so great things happening to him every year), he still had to deal with many of the same things they did and that life for the Boy Who Lived wasn't always full of grand adventures. In fact, there was a great deal of the same mundane unpleasantness that they all had to muddle through. That knowledge tended to put a damper on the legend and any superficial enthusiasm that went with it. Which was good for Harry. The last thing he needed was a group of new students hanging about him just because he was the famous Harry Potter.

"We ought to wait for the Weasleys" Harry chimed in, still smiling brightly.

Hermonie gritted her teeth. "I thought I would help our new students get settled while you had a chance to do that."

Harry looked over at her in confusion. "But I need to introduce them," he said. As if introducing complete strangers to the Weasleys was something he did regularly. "Oh, look! There they are. Ron!" And then he was waving his hand in the air, standing up tall and stretching to be seen over the crowd. The two other boys glanced over quickly before looking away as if bored and more interested in the platform than the people Harry was excited to see. Only the girl was paying attention, but it wasn't to the Weasleys. She was watching Hermonie and it made her uncomfortable. Like she needed to prove herself somehow.

Hermonie heard the bustle of the entire Weasley clan moving their direction, Ron's loud shouts back, and the barely audible "holy crap, that's a lotta redheads" from behind her. She shot one sharp glare over her shoulder at both boys, unsure which one of them had said it, but out of patience with all of them, before pointedly turning away to focus on the important things.

Ron was the first one to wiggle through the crowd, moving much more nimbly than anyone that tall should be able to. And he didn't stop when he reached them. He nearly yanked Harry off his feet in a brief but fierce hug before yanking away abruptly and glaring even as he blushed. "What the blood hell. I mean, really, Harry. Merlin. You- you really worried the hell out of us, damn it."

"Language, Ron!" And there was Mrs. Weasley and the rest of the family. That put an end to the only chance Ron was going to have to properly express his (for once) righteous anger until after they left the train station. It had been a long summer for them, worrying about Harry. And as good as it was to see him alive, healthy and seemingly even in good spirits, it rankled some that he did not seem as distressed as they had been. But Hermonie was proud of the way Ron seemed to swallow the other words he would like to say and settled for glaring grumpily at his best friend.

Harry at least seemed to understand that there would be some groveling needed, and Hermonie was glad she had been able to find him first and warn (instruct) him on that matter. He managed to keep up a sheepish grin and hesitantly shuffled closer to Ron and Ron allowed it with only a minimum of ill grace. It was a sign that they would be on the mend soon. As long as Harry had a very good excuse for intolerably ignoring his friends.

Mrs. Weasley was giving Harry his hug, insisting that he had grown some since she had seen him last. Ginny waved hello but was already busy looking for her own friends. What Hermonie hadn't expected was to see the twins, both of them grinning from ear to ear. They caught her incredulous look and one of them winked.

"We had to come," he said.

"Wouldn't want to miss it," the other added.

"Only right that we say a fond adieu,"

"To the last icky two,"

"On their way back to school."

Both of the Weasley youngest scowled even as they pretended not to hear them. By 'fond adieu' it was clear what they really meant was tease and torment. Hermonie sighed. "You two practiced that beforehand, didn't you?"

The one in red gasped. "We would never!"

"Besides," the other added. "We wouldn't have had time. Very busy you know."

Hermonie smiled and nodded and asked how the business was as if they hadn't conducted mutiny during their last year of school. She knew when to pick her battles, thank you very much, and there wasn't much use in nagging them any more. After all, they'd already done the worst they could.

"Business is very good," they both said, their grins much more genuine and worrisome.

"- though that's not what kept us busy today."

"- and we wouldn't recommend being around when they open their trunks."

Hermonie stared at them. "Thank you for the warning," she managed hesitantly.

One of them waved her off. "No worries. The art form's lost on you," he said, already turning to look over the crowd. Being tall made it easy to see over everyone's head and they were clearly looking for something. Either someone in particular to harass or perhaps evidence of their own workmanship. Hermonie was certain she'd be confiscating plenty of Weasley products before the year was up, and vainly trying to clean up the aftermath of the many more that slipped through. Hermonie scowled and turned away. So much for an adult conversation.

Harry was busy introducing the new students to Mrs. Weasley. It was oddly formal. He was making sure she heard each of their names clearly and seemed almost – proud. He repeated the entire process with Mr. Weasley. And the Weasleys, being the good, warm-hearted people they were, greeted each of them as if prepared to invite them into their home.

"Who the hell are they?" Ron muttered, suddenly appearing at her elbow. He had already had his introduction and seemed about as impressed as she was.

"I don't know," Hermonie replied, keeping her voice down and hoping he'd do the same. "But they're very attached to Harry already."

"Yeah, I noticed. It's bloody weird," he grimaced slightly. "I mean, not weird that they like Harry. We all like Harry, when he's not being a pain in the arse that doesn't answer letters or does something stupid without talking to his friends or-"

"I've got the point, Ron."

"Right. So Harry's alright and everything, but why do I feel like we're going to have to pry him away from them?"

"We'll get it sorted out on the train."

The girl was staring at them again and Hermonie stared defiantly back.

Ron shuffled his feet next to her. She could see out of the corner of her eye him frowning down at his shoes as if there was something wrong with them.

"Harry say anything?" he finally asked in a small voice.

"No. But he couldn't really, could he? Not with these strangers around. I'm sure he'll tell us everything once we get a compartment to ourselves."

"You don't think he'll ask them to sit with us, do you?"

"I should hope not! We have quite a lot to go over, don't we? I mean, we didn't talk at all this summer, and after everything that's happened…" But he certainly didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry to talk to them, did he? "I'm sure he's just being polite."

"Right," Ron agreed amiably. Then he groaned. "This year's already going to be trouble, isn't it?"

"Without a doubt."


	9. Chapter 9

Sasuke hated trains. They were loud, shook incessantly, and seemed to never get anywhere despite moving at a steady pace. And then there was the smoke. Most of the trains they had taken getting to and from where Harry had grown up were blessedly smokeless, running on electricity instead. A convenience Sasuke could appreciate given that the alternative was one of these machines that belched out black clouds constantly. And no matter how well sealed the windows might be, the faint smell was everywhere, dulling the senses to anything else. Sasuke was more accustomed to relying on his eyes, but there were things like certain poisons that could only be detected by scent.

"No one's gassing the train," Naruto grumbled, once more bumping into Sasuke as they slowly made their way down the crowded train hall. Sakura had managed to insert herself in front of Harry, keeping up a string of cheerful conversation and having him direct her forward. It was not ideal, but it gave them something resembling a protective triangle. The flaw was in having to allow for oncoming traffic, many of which wanted to stop and say something to Harry. It was mostly cheerful hellos. There was the occasional longer conversations, often about this Quidditch game that Harry liked so much. Two people went so far as to slap Harry on the back, which instinctively had Sasuke wanting to slap them in the face. It was far too familiar of a gesture for someone like Harry.

There were priorities, however. And the passing crowd was not limited to just people who seemed fond of his cousin. Several small groups glared as they passed, though he noticed none of them were quite brave enough to do so when alone. There was a smattering of muttered comments that Sasuke did not need to recognize to fully understand. He kept track of each one, and who said them, though it was a challenge to keep the Sharringan dormant. It was his greatest asset but Harry had been vehement that under no circumstances was he to use it where someone else might see. Which was not impossible to work around, but certainly more difficult in such a crowded setting.

They paused while Harry talked to a group of younger boys who wanted advice on making their team. The questions were infantile at best, but Harry answered each one of them without laughing at them. Naruto's back thudded against the wall behind them, making the children inside startle loudly. He slouched there, arms crossed, head down but eyes fixed back along the hallway in the direction they had come from. A few students that they had already passed were staring, but kept their distance and seemed more interested in Team 7 than in Harry. Which was bound to happen. Harry had already described in great detail how odd it was going to be having new students at his school. Apparently, it had happened once before, but did not work so well. So while they had full permission to be there, and a plausible excuse for why they were there, it was still going to draw far more unwanted attention than any nin would be comfortable with. Well, except for Naruto. But he handled it with a surprising degree of composure so far. There had been no loud proclamations or disasters. At least not yet. And while Naruto watched their rear, Sasuke kept his eyes on what was going on in front of Harry.

"You could use this compartment," the girl Harry was so fond of was telling Sakura. "Williams won't mind, right Williams?" she asked someone inside but she did not wait for a response before stepping back to try to usher Sakura in. It was an inadequate attempt to get rid of them and Sakura handled it with far better grace.

"Oh, no," she practically cooed. "We couldn't possibly all fit! Let us try the next one. I'm certain there is an empty one. Unless Williams would be willing to give up his seat." She turned her best smile towards the boy inside. Sakura might not be as good as Ino at charming her way through targets, but she knew how to play to her strengths. In a moment, a short younger boy came scurrying out, a book held to his chest and his face bright red. Sakura waved congenially at him as he left. "There!" she told the other girl. "Perfect!"

But the witch clearly did not agree. She scowled openly and her hand holding the door tightened until her knuckles turned white. For a moment, he wondered if she would try something violent. Sakura could easily take her, but it would be interesting to see what kind of training Harry's compatriots had. His cousin's own training was certainly not adequate, by any means. His form was worse than Naruto's during the academy and he hesitated far too much before landing a blow. But his coordination was good and he learned fast. Sasuke only had had to guide him through an exercise once or twice before the other boy was copying it on his own. They were already seeing the results. Harry's endurance was up, his aim improving and his general awareness of his surroundings increasing. He shifted automatically to nonverbal cues from the team, moving along with them in a way that was more cooperative and less tentative. It would make it harder to manage affairs without Harry noticing, but Sasuke could not help but be pleased by the progress. Subterfuge would still likely never be Harry's strong point and Sasuke was more than content with that. Harry would have little need for such skills and in the meantime it made Sasuke's life simpler if he could easily read his cousin and respond to his needs.

Like when Harry suddenly went tense. At first Sasuke assumed it was a result of the brewing argument between the girls. Sakura's methods of clearing the room were being called into question, loudly and harshly. But Sakura was still smiling brightly, her expression becoming even more forceful as she exclaimed over their good fortune of finding a compartment large enough to hold all of them. Harry had made it clear that he did not appreciate confrontation among the people he associated with and was so distressed each time Sasuke and Naruto had a - disagreement. He would not take well to any of them openly causing discord with his previous associates.

Sasuke wanted to sigh. He had hoped to have some reprieve from this now that they were somewhere familiar to Harry. He was just starting to consider how to interfere when it became clear Harry wasn't watching the girls. His attention was focused up ahead, even though he managed not to do something as obvious as stare. His whole body was still fixated in that direction. The tension ran down from Harry's shoulders, stiffening his back even as he moved to angle his body in front of Sasuke. Even as one hand slipped down to his wand pocket.

Stupid! Sasuke's snatched up his own weapon in one hand, keeping it angled so that it was hidden in the folds of the absurd student robes they all had to wear. He stepped in front of the next child trying to pass, moving quickly to get the best view of whatever it was Harry had seen. Naruto shifted over to more fully cover the rear. The child in front of Sasuke looked more startled and confused to find the way blocked than threatening. But the large boy behind him had his shoulders down, hand hidden, and eyes darting from a carefully forced study of the floor to Harry.

That was all Sasuke needed to see. A side step shuffle had him around the student separating them. One hand darted out, getting a firm grip on the boy's shoulder and bringing him down and forward as Sasuke's other hand came up.


	10. Chapter 10

Life once more had gotten really, really weird for Harry. He was used to things changing, to wonderful and terrible things happening, and rarely ever feeling like he knew what to expect next. That was okay. He was learning to handle it, to a certain degree. It was part of living in the wizarding world and he had adjusted as best he could. But this was weird even for him.

Hermonie hated Team 7.

Oh, sure, she tried to be polite and was doing her best _Hogwarts: A History_ impersonation. She kept the conversation going single-handedly as they ushered everyone onto the train. But you could see the way she clenched her teeth each time she smiled, as if she would very much rather talk to Malfoy than Harry's new friends.

It was awful.

Harry didn't know whether to try to pretend to smile too or if he should just slump over in defeat. He hadn't counted on Hermonie not liking them. Sure, there was going to be some confusion at first, and a lot of explanations necessary, but he hadn't had the chance yet and she had already so clearly made up her mind. Hermonie had a lot of opinions about things, and sometimes they didn't always agree on those opinions, but usually he could at least understand where she was coming from. But this time he couldn't figure out why she would dislike them so much, so quickly. Sakura was super nice and Naruto was so friendly – and okay, Sasuke took some time to warm up to, but he'd been quiet and distant which was as polite as he got. But Hermonie hated them and there wasn't going to be changing that any time soon.

Even Ron was reserved and unfriendly. He kept his distance from the whole group, striding ahead as they made their way down the hall. It was possible that he was still mad at Harry for not writing over the summer, but he hadn't seemed that upset when they first said hello. Ron was good at being mad, but he was terrible at hiding it. If he was really mad at Harry, he would have been much more direct. And he didn't seem to be having a spat with Hermonie, since she was the only other person he was talking to.

Harry had been so sure that Ron and Naruto would hit it off. That Hermonie would like Sakura's smarts and curiosity. But everything was a mess, as Hermonie and Sakura argued about compartments, and Ron pretended they weren't there, and Sasuke was just this radiating presence of tension behind him.

It made it very hard to concentrate on what was going on around them. That was the only excuse Harry could come up with for letting Draco bloody Malfoy get so close.

The traffic passing by them had been such a steady stream of students in robes that there hadn't been any sign of trouble coming. It wasn't until he realized that the student next to him was far too large to be anyone other than Goyle. And where there was one, there was sure to be the others. Harry's hand dropped automatically as his eyes darted over to Malfoy. The blond had his face turned away, as if he planned to simple walk on by. If it had been anyone else, Harry might have believed it. But in all their years together at Hogwarts, Malfoy had never once passed up the opportunity to try to needle Harry. And this year, after everything, after the Ministry and the reports of Malfoy senior's arrest, there was no way in hell Draco was just walking by.

Everything happened very quickly after that. Harry shifted to give himself a clear shot if needed, wand held tightly in one hand but still out of sight. He took in the loose style of Malfoy's hair, a change from the careful styling of previous years. He took in the way both of Draco's hands were visible, but one was clench shut. He felt Sasuke move silently but quickly behind him, crowding in even as he blocked traffic. The space was too tight for a clear shot, but Harry made the best of it. It didn't have to be much, just enough to ruin whatever Malfoy had planned. Sometimes, the simplest of spells were best.

A good, strong sticking charm needed focus and precision. A sloppy, fragile sticking charm only took a careless gesture but was just enough to make Malfoy's right shoe tacky enough to stick to the carpet and make him trip. He stumbled, as expected, one hand going out to catch himself on the wall, the other flailing wildly for just a moment before his fist opened and something started to fall. It was, quite literally, the size of a snitch even though it was made out of stiff looking fabric and a bit of twine. It didn't take thought. Harry's hand snatched out and scooped it up before it could hit the ground. He kept his grip loose, cradling it as if it really was a snitch and he didn't want to crush its delicate wings. He smiled the way he always did after a good catch. But then he remembered whose it was and the smile dropped from his face as if it had never been there. He looked up sharply, wand still ready and waiting in case Malfoy took it into his head to start something there on the train. They weren't in school yet, technically, but Harry doubted the teachers would see it that way if curses started flying.

But Malfoy was focused on something going on behind Harry. Where Sasuke was. Which made Harry's stomach drop.

He turned sharply, keeping his hand a loose but firm cage around whatever it was Malfoy had meant to use. Goyle was clutching his nose as if someone had hit him. He looked more startled than angry. Like he wasn't quite sure how he had ended up with a bloody nose. It was Naruto who looked ready to kill someone. He had Sasuke pinned against the wall with one arm across his throat and another pinning Sasuke's arm down. Naruto was snarling something into Sasuke's ear and Harry could only catch pieces of it. It wasn't in English and the translation jutsu was struggling to make sense of it. There were certainly a lot of impolite words. But while Naruto looked ready to breathe fire, Sasuke was eerily calm as he tried to shake off the other boy.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. Especially if you had ever met Sasuke. But while Harry was cringing at the mere thought of the dressing down they were going to get for starting a brawl on the Hogwarts Express, Malfoy was busy looking back and forth between them and coming up with the only conclusion that worked for him.

"Potter!" he exclaimed loudly, making sure his voice would carry down the hall as shrilly as possible. "You struck Goyle!"

Which really, the simplest thing would have been to accept the blame, or maybe to have just said nothing at all. It wasn't exactly like it was unusual for Malfoy's group and Harry's to be getting into it over something. No one would be surprised to hear they'd been fighting on the train. But some things were simply just too ridiculous to let stand. "I'm standing behind Goyle," Harry snapped back, pointing out the obvious flaw in Malfoy's accusation. "How on earth could I hit him in the nose from behind?"

Malfoy turned to him, his face red and not at all as composed as he usually was. Harry serious doubted Malfoy gave one whit about Goyle's bloody nose, but he certainly looked ready to accuse Harry of anything from name calling to murder. There was something very ugly about the sneer across his face, something not quite normal or human. For a moment, Harry felt like backing up. Maybe Malfoy had more up his sleeve than just the pouch he had dropped. If he did, he certainly looked ready and willing to use it.

It was at that moment that Goyle decided to keen loudly and collapse.

"Oh, for heaven's sake," Hermonie muttered behind him. She pushed her way to the front, calling for the other students to step back and give him some room. Except Malfoy was shouting over her about brutish behavior and biases. It was going to get ugly quick and Sasuke still looked like he'd like to gut someone. Naruto kept holding on to him tightly, but had managed to wrestle something shiny out of Sasuke's hand and hidden it in his pocket. Ugly indeed. Harry quickly caught Hermonie's eye, widening his until she got the point. With a small huff she gave him a look, then raised her voice as loud as Malfoy's and ensured everyone's attention was on the two of them as they called each other increasingly complex insults. Harry next shot Naruto a glare and jerked his head to the empty compartment. Naruto nodded, grabbed Sasuke by the collar and shoved him at Harry. It wasn't a gentle push, and it nearly took the two of them down. But Sasuke managed to catch himself with one hand on the wall and grabbed on to Harry's arm with the other. Someone grabbed the back of Harry's shirt and tugged and the two of them went stumbling into the compartment. Naruto slipped inside just before Sakura slammed the door shut behind them.

"What the hell was that!" Naruto yelled before any of them could even get themselves straightened out.

"Shush!" Sakura hissed. "I'm trying to listen." She was still by the door. One hand keeping it propped open just a sliver so she could see out. Harry wasn't sure why she needed them to be quiet. He could clearly hear Hermonie's voice reaching new ear-piercing levels as Malfoy continued to try to make accusations.

"What. The. Hell." Naruto repeated, this time with more hand waving as if that could make up for the need to be quiet.

Sasuke wasn't paying attention, however. It took a bit of shuffling to get him and Harry detangled without knocking each other over. Harry was still holding on to Malfoy's little gift and had to be careful not to crush it in his hand. Sasuke's eyes darted down to it, but moved on to check the rest of him over before stepping back and fussing with his own robes.

"I had everything under control," Sasuke snapped back, but he wasn't looking at Naruto and Harry was learning how to read the subtleties of his cousin better than he suspected the other boy realized.

Harry gave him his best Hermonie-frown, the one that clearly indicated that the other person was simply too stupid for words. "Goyle is nothing more than an overgrown beater. Not exactly the biggest risk on the field."

"And, you know, a kid!" Naruto interjected.

"So you admit there was a threat?" Sasuke demanded, still ignoring Naruto's hysterics.

"A kid you tried to stab!" Naruto clarified.

"This was your threat!" Harry exclaimed, holding out his fist and carefully unfolding his fingers to show what Malfoy had dropped. He'd only gotten a quick look at it as it fell, but now he could see the fabric was heavy but soft, made out of something densely embroidered but still delicate enough to be twisted into a carefully packed sphere and tied together with what looked like a piece of black twine. Who knew what was inside, but Harry wasn't eager to find out without Hermione and maybe the Medical Wing nearby. "This was what you should have been looking for and it's certainly a lot more obvious than the average spell. Which by the way, you don't know how to counter the way I do. And what the hell do you mean stab?" And okay, that last part came out a lot louder and higher pitched than Harry had meant it to, but surely it was justified.

Sasuke scowled at the window, now not looking at either of them.

"I should have known this would be a disaster," Harry groaned.

Sasuke flinched, just a little, around the eyes. But it was enough for Harry to kind of feel guilty. Which just made everything more frustrating and complicated. "I was handling the situation," Sasuke argued, because of course he couldn't just admit he was wrong! Was family always this difficult? Hermonie sometimes complained about her parents not understanding her life choices and Ron always ranted about his siblings, but Harry was pretty sure none of their family members had tried to kill a person for looking at them wrong.

"This isn't helping!" Harry exclaimed. "It's the opposite of helping! I'm the one who had the situation under control! Mafloy's just a bully. I've been dealing with him just fine for the last five years and I don't need your help!"

"Now, now, Harry-kun!" Naruto interrupted, forcing a laugh that sounded strained, and flipping sides so fast even he seemed to be confused as to why he was now defending Sasuke. "Sasuke-teme was just trying to help. In his own overreacting kind of way."

"Yeah, well, his help almost got someone _stabbed_."

"Some people need stabbing," Sasuke muttered and Harry wanted to grab him and shake him.

"This isn't your world!" he shouted instead. "You can't do that kind of thing here! Criminals do that. Murderers. Not students."

"Keep your voices down!" Sakura hissed from the door. She had turned around to watch what was happening inside of the compartments instead of outside of it. The general noise from the hallway had died down. The show must be over out there. And Sakura was probably right, shouting about murderers and stabbing people was probably not helping their effort any. Harry could hear someone asking who was in there, but Hermonie and Ron were providing good coverage for them.

Harry exhaled harshly through his nose and tried to push out all of his anger as well. Sasuke really could have hurt someone. And yeah, maybe that someone was Goyle or Malfoy, but that didn't make it right. But Sasuke didn't get things like that. Look at the way Team 7 fought with each other and they were like a family. It would stand to reason that he wouldn't understand that some things just weren't acceptable. Weren't right. "Look, I'm fine. This was just some stupid prank. You can't freak out every time someone doesn't like me. Trust me, there's always going to be people who don't like me and pranks are a way of life at Hogwarts. So just, try to calm down a little, okay?"

There. That came out very reasonable and adult like and mature. Harry was learning to think before he leapt and talk to people about things.

But Sasuke was still scowling. He even started to argue when Naruto smacked him in the back of the head.

It really shouldn't have been funny. After all, they'd just been debating the practicality and ethics of lethal force on a school train. But Naruto looked so pleased with himself. And the way Sasuke's head bobbled under the force. And the brief, tiny moment of shock on Sasuke's face. Like how dare someone touch him.

Harry tried not to laugh, because laughing was probably the least helpful thing he could do right now for this situation and Sasuke's pride. But then Sakura giggled. Just a tiny little peep of a noise and Harry couldn't help it. "Sorry, sorry!" he gasped out. "Not funny." Even if it really was. Sasuke was always so prim and proper, when he wasn't being horribly violent. He didn't often get teased.

And Naruto just grinned proudly. "Compromise, dobe."

Sasuke glared at him, ignoring the rest of the room. "I let you do that," he finally announced, as if the blow hadn't caught him off guard.

And that was about as close to a joke as Sasuke got. Harry laughed even harder before flopping down in a seat, happy to have this whole sordid business behind them. "Sorry," he repeated, meaning it this time. "I know you're only trying to help. But you have to trust me too, you know?"

Sasuke frowned back but eventually nodded.

Naruto let out his own explosive sigh before flinging himself down in a seat. "Great. Glad that's sorted. Are there snacks?"

By the time Hermonie and Ron joined them, Harry had handed out all of the snacks he had tucked into his backpack and all of Team 7 was sitting peacefully while they pulled the legs off their chocolate frogs.

Hermonie's face was splotchy and red. Her hair was in more disarray than it had been, probably from her tugging on it in frustration. She shut the door firmly behind her but raised one eyebrow and gave Harry a very pointed look as she studied the other people in their compartment. That look spoke volumes and Harry just wished he knew what that message was. Or maybe he didn't want to.

Ron didn't look much happier, but his ire seemed directed more at their normal fellow classmates. "Bunch of nosy busy bodies. Always wanna gawk at what's going on but never seem to want to help. Sheesh. Alright there, Harry? You really didn't hit Goyle did you? Not that that would necessarily be a terrible thing-"

"Ron! We're Perfects!"

"But it would be poor form getting started this early. I'm pretty sure McGonagol will have us strung up if we get into trouble before the feast again."

Harry grimaced at the reminder. Bad enough his cousin had attacked another student, but heaven help them if the teachers found out. It was going to be hard enough making this weird situation work, they didn't need to add in getting into trouble. "It was a misunderstanding?" Harry tried.

Both Hermonie and Ron just stared at him, waiting for more. Harry sighed. He had never been good at not telling them things right away. Ever since that first train ride together, they had managed to find their way through everything side by side. It wouldn't be right not to tell them. "Sasuke thought Goyel was dangerous. He didn't understand that it was just something stupid."

Hermonie's eyes widened but Ron turned to look at Sasuke speculatively, like he was considering him for Quidditch try-outs or something.

"We have to report this to the teachers," Hermonie announced.

"Hey now!" Naruto chimed in, starting to look a little panicked himself. "No one's hurt!"

"Goyel may have a broken nose! It was bleeding everywhere."

"Plus he's too stupid to figure out how to heal it himself," Ron added, but Harry wasn't sure if that meant he agreed with Hermonie or just thought it worth pointing out.

Naruto still looked confused why anyone would be bothered by a little blood. "….so?"

"Sasuke's sorry," Harry interrupted before that could devolve any further. He got why Team 7 didn't understand this wasn't normal. Their school taught children how to use throwing knives. A little school yard brawl didn't mean anything to them. And Harry was more familiar with broken noses and schoolyard scuffles than most of his classmates. Dudley had always been fond of that kind of interaction, and it certainly wasn't unusual in places that weren't exclusive boarding schools.

Sasuke glared down at the floor, which wasn't an agreement but at least he didn't correct Harry in front of his friends. They were going to need Hermonie and Ron's help to make this year work. Especially if the wands weren't functioning for Team 7. Plus it was Hermonie and Ron. They were the best people Harry knew. They just _had_ to like Team 7.

"Sasuke thought they were trying to hurt me. He just wanted to stop them. He overreacted a bit, but that's just 'cause he's new."

"Goyel and Malfoy were certainly up to something," Ron offered.

Hermonie kept glaring at Sasuke, not at all disturbed when he looked up and met that stare head on. But she answered Ron. "Of course he was. Harry, you really do need to be extra careful this year. I can't believe they let people like Mafloy come back to school after his father tried to kill you! Though I suppose they couldn't deny a person an education for those reasons, but you really must be careful, Harry!"

As one, Team 7 turned to stare at the door as if they could see through it and somehow zoom in on Malfoy, wherever he was. Harry might have neglected to mention the part about Malfoy's father being a Death Eater, being one of the people who tried to kill them last year, and was currently in prison. He had had a feeling how well that information was going to go over and it just seemed practical to not bring it up.

Harry cringed. "He's still just a school bully, guys."

"One who's family tried to murder you, you mean," Sakura summarized curtly. And going by her tone of voice, it wasn't going to be just his cousin who was unhappy with him for neglecting to bring the topic up.

"Rotten lot, the whole group of them," Ron grumbled. "Mafloy Senior should have gone to Azkaban the first time around. Good riddance!"

Hermonie was watching all of them closely, but now she was starting to look more than just annoyed. She looked confused and like she was trying to work out a piece of the puzzle. Which wasn't uncommon for her, but she also had that slightly pursed look that meant she wasn't just upset but also worried. Maybe even a little afraid. It made Harry uncomfortable. "They just want to help, Hermonie," he told her quietly. "Trust me on this, okay?"

She looked over at him, not nearly convinced but taking the time to think about it. "You're a good judge of people," she said as if laying out the reasons why his argument was sound. "But then again, you're also the type to get in over your head."

Harry smiled up at her. "This is maybe a little of both?"

She sighed but dropped her shoulder bag and sat down next to him. "Alright."

Ron took his cue from her and took the seat across from her. It put him next to Sakura and he looked a little uncomfortable with the arrangement. "Your hair's really pink," he blurted out. It wasn't the first time they had seen someone with pink hair before, but Tonks was sort of the exception to every rule. It was weird to see such a color on someone else and Harry was dreading the number of questions that was going to raise when they got to school. For a magical school, Hogwarts could be very traditional about appearances.

Sakura smiled brightly back. "Thank you," she said brightly and Harry wasn't sure if she really meant it and was trying to be nice or if it counted as nin sarcasm and she was being the exact opposite of nice.

"Well?" Hermonie demanded.

Harry jerked back to look at her. She was twisted around sideways in her seat and was staring at him intently.

"What?" he asked, trying to figure out what part of the conversation he had missed.

"Explain," Hermonie demanded and jerked her chin at the rest of the train compartment.

"We're here to learn," Sakura answered promptly. "Our teacher will help teach DADA and we will go to class."

Hermonie managed a stiff smile back. It wasn't convincing in the slightest and Harry was kind of happy to be back around people who wore their emotions openly and didn't make it a habit to try and trick people. "That's nice," Hermonie replied. "Now does someone want to explain where Harry's been all summer, why you would be willing to harm another student on his behalf, and why he's suddenly treating you like you're one of us."

Sakura's expression didn't change. "We're here to learn. It is a school, isn't it?"

Hermonie turned her glare on Harry. "Are you going to tell us the truth or not, Harry?"

Harry held up his hands in defense. "I am! I mean, I will. Geeze, Hermonie, just give me a chance, okay, there hasn't been a good time to talk."

"Not here," Sasuke demanded.

"No one asked you," Hermonie told him without looking away from Harry.

Harry wanted to cringe. Maybe Hermonie was more upset with him than she had said. She certainly seemed dead set on getting the whole story, even if she had to drag it out of him. He had to remind himself that she hated not knowing something. And the only thing worse for Hermonie than not knowing the answer to a question on a test was not knowing how to help a friend.

"It's just us," Harry murmured to Sasuke, not turning to look at the other boy because he didn't need to see both of them sitting on either side of him glaring at him. He wasn't surprised that Sasuke didn't like the idea, but they had agreed to let Hermonie and Ron in on the plan.

Sakura suddenly sighed loudly. Dramatically. Almost as if she had shouted with a sigh. "These trains, you know, so crowded. And noisy. And everyone on top of each other. You just can't talk comfortably with anyone on trains. I do hope school is much quieter. Less crowded. Easier to talk with your friends."

And alright, Harry wasn't stupid. The nin were afraid of someone listening in. It wasn't beyond the realm of possibility. After all, Harry had had a good look at some of the different ways to overhear a person's conversation. And somehow he suspected the Weasly Extendable Ears weren't the only option out there for a determined or well-trained wizard.

It was a big enough risk as it was traveling together. They wanted to keep his and Sasuke's relationship as discreet as possible. Once they were at school, the nin had a plan for spreading out more. But Sasuke hadn't been willing to budge on riding together on the train. Not after they asked Harry point blank if there had ever been issues with the trains and getting to school safely. Harry hadn't been willing to flat out lie to them but he had managed to get away with a very pared down summary of some of his previous experiences. Needless to say, after that it was easier just to cooperate with Sasuke's protective streak.

"Maybe," Harry started, feeling a bit like a jerk but he didn't _want_ to argue about this with Sasuke now. They'd just had one fight, and he couldn't help it, every time they did fight, all he could think of was that time in Naruto's apartment when he'd pulled his wand on Sasuke. Everything was always so important to the other boy, and maybe Harry could be a bit more flexible on some things. You know, set a good example for him or something. That this was how people managed friendships. They sometimes had to do what the other person wanted instead.

Except he didn't know what to do when the situation meant that making one friend happy was guaranteed to make the other one cross.

"Maybe we could wait to talk later?" Harry finally tried. Hermonie's face flushed right away and Harry scrambled for some way to let her know he couldn't talk about it now without flat out saying they were hiding a secret. That would sort of defeat the purpose, after all. How many times had they figured out something was going on by first figuring out someone _had_ a secret they didn't want anyone to know? "Maybe after the feast," Harry suggested, "We can get started on club stuff and talk about this then too, okay?" he asked. It was the closest he could get to describing something as Order business without actually saying so.

And bless her, Hermonie was smarter than they were. She looked far from happy, but she finally let it drop. She huffed out a sigh before digging out a book from her bag (one of their new textbooks) and holding it up in front of her face.

Right. Well. That went well.

Ron rolled his eyes and shrugged. They were both used to this by now, just like Harry and Hermonie were used to Ron losing his temper at times and probably just like Hermonie and Ron got frustrated about something about Harry and shared commiserating looks when he wasn't paying attention. Now there was a pleasant thought.

Harry tried to ignore it. They were all on the train and on their way to Hogwarts. That was something. Or at least he hoped they all were. Kakashi-sensei had disappeared somewhere shortly after entering the platform. But the man knew how to take care of himself and they'd see him again at the feast. Dumbledore hadn't said how he planned to integrate the three nin students into classes, but he knew Team 7 already had their own plans on how to make that work to their advantage. They didn't do anything without a plan, Harry was starting to realize. It had been odd at first, but there was also something sort of invigorating about trying to keep up with them. Sasuke said it was just being prepared, but Naruto always treated it like a game. Like a puzzle they had to work out together.

Hopefully the biggest puzzle of this school year would be Team 7 themselves and not anything else. But even if it wasn't, even if Harry's bad luck held out, at least he and Hermonie and Ron would have more help this year. Harry smiled a little to himself. Somehow he was certain that if he brought any kind of suspicion to his cousin then he'd definitely treat it as something worth looking into – if not worse. He certainly wouldn't turn Harry away with accusations that he was imagining things, or inventing the trouble himself, or shouldn't be involved. Well, maybe the latter but only because Sasuke would want to murderer whatever it was himself first. Which maybe wasn't a good thing, but it was kind of nice to have someone else on his side.

Harry picked at the string holding Malfoy's prank together. It was oddly homemade. Hogwarts was no stranger to practical jokes and those were only likely to continue increasing now that the two largest contributors had set up an independent business. Malfoy certainly wasn't the type to not be able to afford whatever entertainment he wanted, so he wouldn't have made something homemade for the practical reason of not having the pocket money to just buy something instead. The fabric was a lot nicer than most of the stuff Harry saw, and he couldn't help rub a thumb back and forth over the complicated stitch pattern.

"What's that?" Ron asked. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees and scooting closer so they could talk without disturbing the girls.

Harry shrugged. He held it out, palm flat so that Ron could get a better look. Ron grew up in wizarding families and had a much better understanding of basic things than Harry did. If it wasn't a part of class, Harry didn't know it. Which normally didn't seem like a big deal, right up until he went into someone's house or tried buying something at the store, and suddenly there were all these layers he didn't understand. Ron was more likely to know what something homemade was. There usually wasn't a lot of crossover between the home life Ron had and anything to do with the Malfoys, but it sort of looked like some kind of potpourri bag that someone like Aunt Petunia or Mrs. Weasley might make because it was pretty. That probably wasn't what Draco had up his sleeve, but maybe Ron would recognize it. After all, he did have two famous pranksters for older brothers. There probably wasn't a trick or joke that Ron hadn't seen.

"Malfoy dropped it," Harry explained. "I was just trying to figure out what it did."

A hand shot out and clamped on his wrist. Harry tried to jerk back, but he was already trapped. And even jerking his body weight towards Hermonie didn't do a thing to loosen the grip. In fact, his arm wouldn't even move. Sasuke had such a tight grip on it that Harry couldn't have gotten free if he wanted to. It didn't hurt, exactly. Not like when one of the Dursleys would grab him. But it wasn't exactly comfortable either.

"Sasuke!" Harry yelped but he stopped trying to pull away. Sasuke wouldn't hurt him. Harry knew it, even if he wasn't comfortable with someone yanking on him like that. It made Harry's heart jump. But Sasuke wasn't yanking either, just holding Harry perfectly still. If he hadn't been so annoyed and alarmed he might have been impressed with how steady and immovable Sasuke managed to make himself. It was one thing to grab on and not let go, it was another thing to not let something shift – not even a little.

"Don't move, Harry," Hermonie suddenly chimed in, using the same voice she did when she was trying to prevent him from making a really big mistake in potions class. Harry had knocked into her pretty hard when he had startled, hard enough that she had dropped her heavy book. But Hermonie didn't seem to care. She was tucked up against him as close as she could get on the other side and was focused solely on his hand. She reached up and delicately put her hands on either side of his open palm as if that would help her study it better.

It was weird to see Sasuke's tan and calloused hand next to Hermonie's much more delicate one. She still had a bit of pink polish on her nails, chipped and probably a relic from whatever summer holiday she had been on. Hermonie didn't wear that kind of stuff often, but she apparently liked really bright pink when she did.

"Um, guys?" Ron asked and Harry could have hugged him for being the one to do so. "What's going on?"

"Harry!" Naruto cried. "You still have that? You don't just pick up something a baddie dropped and play around with it! Like, even I know that's a dumb move."

Now everyone was crowded around Harry's outstretched hand as if this was the world's most bizarre form of show and tell. And about three fourths of that group were giving Harry that look like he was a moron that had to be saved from himself.

Harry scowled. "I caught it," he clarified. "I figured since Malfoy wanted it to hit the ground it might be better if I held on to it for now."

Hermonie hummed thoughtfully, but she only had eyes for the pouch. "You've been touching it?" she asked calmly, like she had a checklist in her head. "Holding it all of this time?" she asked, making it sound like it was odd that he would be. Like he should have questioned it before now.

Harry kind of wanted to point out that he still was holding it but everyone seemed very stressed. "Had it in my hand ever since. Didn't know what it was, so I figured I should be careful with it."

"And it didn't occur to you to get rid of it somehow?"

Not really. Which was a bit odd. It wasn't like he was in the habit of collecting things from Malfoy, and he certainly had no plan to use it himself. Now that she said that, it did seem a bit odd to hold on to it all this time.

Hermonie nodded as if that now made sense. "A light compulsion charm. Not unheard of with things like this."

Sasuke bit off something sharp and not in English and not something Harry's translation jutsu recognized as a word he'd heard before.

"Tell me about it," Hermonie muttered and it took Harry a second to realize she was _agreeing_ with Sasuke. Go figure the thing to get her over her distrust would be agreeing on how much of an idiot Harry was. "Still," she added graciously. "It would have been worse if it had impacted the ground. You must have caught it very softly, Harry. These things are designed to burst open. The compulsion charm was probably intended to make you do more than just hold on to it, but thankfully you've always shown a certain level of bullhead-ness. But let's try not to pick at it anymore, hm? The string is already coming undone."

"You know what it is?" Ron asked and Harry was glad he wasn't the only in the dark.

Suddenly Hermonie smiled at him brightly. "I read ahead," she told them primly before scrunching up her nose. "Unfortunately, it's likely a nasty bit of dry potions work."

Both Harry and Ron stared at her in confusion. "Dry potions?" Harry asked, trying to make sure he heard her right.

"Isn't that a contradiction in terms or something?" Ron demanded.

"No. It's an uncommon combination of terms. For an uncommon type of spell work. Dry spells aren't used often because they're very crude."

Ron snorted. "Go figure Malfoy would be crude."

"Not – not that kind of crude, Ron. Simplistic. Limited. They have a short viability window and they can be notoriously difficult to predict."

Harry frowned. That didn't sound like something Malfoy would go in for. "Doesn't sound worth it," he commented. Sakura and Naruto were having a hastily whispered conference on their side, but Harry could tell they were still listening to everything Hermonie said. She had a great teacher voice and they soaked up information like sponges. Sasuke was listening too, Harry was sure, but he was also staring at the small little pouch like he expected to be able to see through it. So far Harry hadn't seen a flash of red, so maybe Sasuke really had listened to him about that one, but just because Harry hadn't seen it didn't mean that Sasuke hadn't done it. His cousin was sneaky like that. But at least he seemed willing to wait and see what solution Hermonie came up with. And Harry had to take that as encouraging – that maybe his cousin could learn to trust other people sometimes.

"Generally, they're not worth the trouble of constructing, particularly since they're so temperamental," Hermonie agreed. "But that's a part of what makes them difficult to counteract. There's not a set method of dealing with such a thing, and the magic it tends to cause often responded poorly to any spell trying to counteract it. It's a fascinating field. They've been using such delivery methods in pest control since it seems to be more effective than large scale spell casting and Bill was just telling me about how certain tombs came equipped with entire complex systems of staggered exposure. Naturally, most of the raw materials have lost their effectiveness at this point but it's something they have to be careful of because of all of the statis charms and the fumes can be quite toxic if fire is introduced. Mrs. Weasley doesn't usually use any of them because she says they're not safe for a household with children in it-"

"Hey!" Ron objected since the children in question were probably him and his sister.

"- but we, um, we were using it. You know. Last summer. Cleaning. Remember?" she asked and it wasn't until the Fidelius charm got in the way that she started to sound frustrated.

"What does it do?" Sasuke demanded. "And how do we destroy it?"

Which was good old Sasuke. No curiosity beyond 'how do you destroy it' and preferably with fire. Though it sounded like this time fire was out of the question.

"Not sure," Hermonie answered with a hum. She didn't seem to care how upset Sasuke was. "But as long as it remains whole we should be fine. Try not to move, Harry."

"Can we take it from him?" Sakura asked. And now all of Team 7 was back to staring quietly.

"What?' Oh, no, I wouldn't recommend it. I'm not sure how stable it is."

"Then he shouldn't be holding it," Sasuke gritted out.

Hermonie now had her nose level with Harry's hand, which was all kinds of weird and awkward. He looked at Ron, for support or guidance maybe on what to do or at least fellow recognition of how awkward this all was. But Ron was watching everything wide-eyed as if this was the most interesting thing that had happened to him all summer. Or as if he expected it all to go very badly very quickly. It was not reassuring.

"Taking it from him won't improve the situation," Hermonie informed the room absently. "Just because it's stable now, doesn't mean it will stay that way. They're designed to pop open easily, and between Malfoy getting it here, Harry catching it, and him holding it all this time, it's really a wonder it hasn't burst yet. The less we move it the better. Best to have Harry carefully get rid of it than risk one of us disturbing it. Even something that size is big enough to affect the whole cabin anyway."

"Geeze," Ron exclaimed. "Maybe you shouldn't put your face next to it then?" he asked and finally he looked like he was thinking about pulling her away. Which for the record, Harry thought was an excellent idea. He didn't want Hermonie getting the brunt of whatever this was when it had clearly been meant for him. Though if whatever it was had gone off in the hallway, who knew how many other people it might have affected.

"Oh, that shouldn't make a difference one way or another at this point," she happily told Ron. "I'm trying to get an idea for what's in it."

"A rock, about the size of a grape and just as smooth, but flatter length wise," Sasuke informed her immediately.

"And somethin' that smells like tree bark," Naruto added. "The fancy kind."

"Ah," Sakura chimed in. "I thought I smelled sandalwood in the hallway. But sort of citrus as well?"

"Hmm," Hermonie agreed. "Maybe bergamot and a river stone? Those together with sandalwood would make for a number of paralytics."

"Like Petrificus?" Harry asked, trying to understand why someone would go to such lengths for such a simple spell.

"Oh, no, much more of a chemical based reaction, Harry. Something like that could cause asphyxiation or possibly even worse."

It took Harry a moment to process that. He was used to thinking of the world in terms of spells cast and flashy bits of charm work and transfiguration. Asphyxiation didn't normally fit into that. His arm jerked slightly, just a fine instinctive tremor, but Sasuke's tight grip kept his hand from moving.

"How do we destroy it?" Sasuke repeated.

Hermonie thought for a moment, a long moment during which Sakura and Naruto continued to trade looks and Sasuke's patience clearly started to run out. "I think," she finally announced. "That the best thing to do would be to open the window and toss it out." She nodded decisively once the words were out of her mouth. "If we open the window for him and Harry moves quickly, we should be able to get it out without risking disturbing the wrapping or activating it. He's been holding it all of this time without damaging it, so we should be able to get rid of it safely. But we'll need to make sure that no one else has their windows open behind us. That would be terrible! Come along, Ron. Time to make our rounds. Harry, think you can manage on your own? We'll get the window for you?"

Once upon a time, Hermonie would have been much more frantic about such a thing. She likely would have been wringing her hands in indecision, not confident that her solution would be good enough, and not comfortable with leaving Harry on his own, but also unable to be in two places at the same time. But he supposed a person could only go through so many life or death situations before you started to become very blasé about it.

"We'll handle this part," Sakura told her, already moving to the window while Naruto climbed over the far seats to get out of the way. "Let us know when it's clear." Neither Sasuke nor Harry moved yet.

Hermonie frowned but nodded. "Just a few minutes, I promise. No one likes to open their windows anyway after what happened third year." She and Ron didn't wait any longer, they slipped out, shutting the door firmly behind them. Harry could already hear Hermonie's voice announcing her presence as a prefect and confirming that the next compartment's windows were shut.

Naruto cracked the door open after them and watched their progress. Sakura had her head out the window, visually checking that way to see if any other ones were open. Sasuke didn't move.

"Sorry," Harry finally muttered. They hadn't even gotten to Hogwarts yet and already he was in trouble.

Sasuke didn't say anything back. For a moment, it was just the two of them. There was no one else to nudge Sasuke into being polite or sooth Harry when he got flustered. It wasn't that the two of them didn't know how to talk to one another without someone playing referee. It was just that everything seemed to matter more when it came to Harry interacting with his cousin. Sasuke never did things by halves and Harry always seemed to push things to the limit when they were together.

"I didn't know it was dangerous," he found himself explaining. Making excuses. "I just figured that if Malfoy wanted it to hit the ground, then I shouldn't let it."

Sasuke didn't say anything back. They listened to the wind whip by and the soft sound of happy voices from outside the door. They waited silently for the all clear.

"We're ready," Sakura finally announced from her position by the window.

"All clear!" Naruto agreed, opening the door enough to wave at someone down the hall.

Sasuke shifted, moving his body around carefully so that he was out of Harry's way but without moving their joined arms even a fraction. "I need you to relax," he told Harry. "I am going to pull you. Sakura will stabilize you from the other side." And sure enough, there were her hands, one just under his right arm, holding on to him by the armpit which might have been embarrassing if she didn't also have a very firm grip on what felt like his entire arm socket. Her other hand was on his waist, which was maybe actually worse. Harry flushed but ignored it. Sakura knew what she was doing and he trusted her as much as he trusted his cousin. This all felt a bit like overkill, but Hermonie had had the same kind of seriousness to her that she used when engaging dragons and dark magic. If she felt it was important, then he had to be. And Team 7 always took things seriously.

"We are going to move quickly," Sasuke continued. "As quickly as we can. Which is faster than you will be able to manage." Which was true, Harry had seen it often enough. With a bit of space and maybe some warning, Harry could at least follow what they were doing and react, but he'd never be able to go from dead still to _that_ fast, no matter how much he tried. He'd need a broom to do that and unfortunately this was one problem that could not be solved with a Firebolt or a Nimbus. "Keep your body as loose as you can and we should be able to move all three of us without hurting you and fast enough this will be over with before you know it. You must keep your hand still, however. Try not to move it. You did well catching it without damaging the package. One more step and we will be rid of the thing."

"You're not mad?" Harry asked quietly, and okay, maybe that wasn't a priority right now but Sasuke didn't sound mad. He sounded very focused and calm and it was kind of nice to work on something together without anyone yelling.

"I am furious," Sasuke corrected. "But you said I am not allowed to stab the one responsible, so we will have to look into alternative methods of responding to such a threat. For now, focus on the task at hand. You did well, Harry."

"Yeah, yeah, nice catch, Harry-kun!" Naruto chimed in.

"Nice and steady," Sakura repeated behind him.

"Okay," Harry agreed. This was going to be easy. "Let's do this."

Having two nin physically move you while you tried not to resist was one weird feeling. It was _not_ like flying. But it did sort of make one feel like a leaf on the wind, caught at the mercy of a power of nature. One little hex bag didn't stand a chance, and Naruto cheered as it went flying harmlessly out of the window. Harry smiled and laughed with him, the wind whipping at his hair and both Sasuke and Sakura still holding on to a part of him.

Maybe they did have good teamwork, after all.


	11. Chapter 11

It was ten minutes till the Hogwarts Express was due to depart and Remus was starting to get frantic. He had arrived early this morning, not sure when his contact was due to arrive but wanting to be ready to help out in any way he could. Dumbledore had insisted Remus handle this personally since he was the only one who had actually interacted with these people. Dumbledore seemed to think that gave him some kind of insight into how they thought. Not for the first time, Remus was very aware that Dumbledore did _not_ know everything.

Remus had to remind himself that he was here on Order business. He was well aware of the importance and repercussions that came from failing an Order mission. This was a personal favor to Dumbledore, the man that had taken a chance on Remus when no one else would and let him into his school, first as a student and then later as a teacher. This was important for Harry, for keeping him alive, and maybe even happy.

None of that changed the fact, however, that it was damn annoying.

Granted, the alternative was trudging through the isolated parts of the European country side trying to find any werewolves who weren't savage violent creatures _and _who were also willing to help them in their fight against the Death Eaters. And who also wouldn't kill Remus on sight. Most of that work had involved sleeping rough, trying to ask very awkward questions without drawing too much attention to himself, and brief periods of intense mortal fear. So yes, there were worse jobs he could be doing but not so many that were as purely annoying as this one.

Students started filing onto the train. Some parents bid them goodbye and departed themselves while others took up a position on the edge to wave as the train pulled out. Increasingly there was less chaos from the hordes of people coming and going and precious little to camouflage his presence in. More and more he was that scruffy looking old man who had no business being there and someone was bound to start asking uncomfortable questions. Or worse, recognize him.

Remus liked to think many of his former students were at least passingly fond of him. He didn't delude himself into thinking, however, that they or their parents had any interest in ever being in close proximity to him again. It was one thing to suggest a werewolf might still be an alright chap when he wasn't running around on all fours. It was another thing to be in close proximity to one.

They were running out of time. He was running out of time. He was going to have to make a decision soon to either stay and try to figure out what happened to Kakashi Hatake or to leave the man to his fate and jump on the train himself. The point of having the man here was not only to build better ties with this new magical community – and hopefully recruit their help – but also to provide extra security for Harry. If this man couldn't even manage getting to the train station on his own then he would likely be more of a hindrance than a help. The last thing they needed was more dead weight in the staff.

Remus cursed silently, first in English and then in a few of the more guttural languages he'd picked up in bits and pieces over the years. There was no helping it. He couldn't afford to leave the train unprotected for the ride to Hogwarts. It had been proven before that the trip was a vulnerable one, and if this great fighter wasn't able to make it himself, then Remus would have to do the best he could on his own. They could send him back afterwards to look for the lost man. Surely he could survive on his own for a few hours. The children might not be so fortunate.

Remus darted through the crowd, head down and attention focused solely on getting aboard at the last moment. The old adage was true, if you looked like you had a purpose and belonged there, people tended to overlook your presence. But Remus had found that it truly worked best when you made yourself believe it. He had a purpose and he belonged here. No matter what someone else might think. Dumbledore himself had entrusted this task to Remus – even if it wasn't officially sanctioned or recognized. He caught a hold of the railing at the last moment and pulled himself up the stairs just as the train started to pull away. He wouldn't be able to wander the train car halls keeping an eye on things the way he wanted to, but at least he would be on hand in a worst case scenario.

Remus waited, standing on the top step and holding on to the railing while he watched through the car window for a lull in the stream of students moving along the car. As soon as the hallway was mostly clear, he made for the only option he had for some privacy. Though perhaps he should have waited just a touch longer.

Someone was already in the loo.

Remus cursed again at the ridiculousness of it all. How old was he? And here he was scuttling about the Hogwarts Express, trying to find a place to hide and hoping no one noticed how very much he didn't belong there.

He couldn't very well stand about in the hall waiting for it to free up. All of the older students would recognize him on sight and there would be no end of questions. Dumbledore was hoping to keep his changes to the staff this year – and the presence of their clandestine guests – as discreet as possible. Starting the year off with unsavory folks lurking about was not going to help the Headmaster rebuild the school's image as a safe and trustworthy place for the children during this time of crisis.

Remus could wait outside of the car. Students didn't tend to change cars much once the train was in motion. The connection was too rickety and open to the elements. He had just turned away to wait out in the wind and the cold when the loo door yanked open and he was dragged in by a hand in his collar.

"Professor Lupin!" the man said cheerfully. "I was just beginning to wonder if you'd ever show."

Remus had his wand out of his pocket and in hand in the same time it took him to give a sharp inhale of surprise. The stunning spell bounced off of the wall harmlessly, the sharp sizzle in the air that followed it enough to make the hair on the back of his neck stand up. The man had a hand in his collar and the other arm tucked up under Remus's elbow, keeping his wand pointed useless up and to the right. It was a good block, and the tight quarters of the toilet meant that there wasn't enough room to adjust his angle.

But Remus had spent enough time in the rougher parts of both the wizard and muggle worlds. He tended to think of more than just his wand. The man's grip was firm and Rems didn't have any delusions about his chances in a fist fight. But he did keep a small pen knife close at hand. For practical reasons like actually sharpening quills, cutting the occasional bit of string or rope, and having an extra edge in emergencies like this one.

It wasn't a long knife or particularly sharp, but a couple of inches was usually enough to get a person to let you go. Or at least distract them enough for a more traditional blow. But while most wizards never would have thought to guard against a wizard's non-dominant hand, Remus didn't managed to get any further than pulling it out of his pocket before he was being spun around, elbows banging into every surface, the hand on his collar never letting go, but that arm now wrapped around his torso in such a way that made moving his right arm impossible. The hand that had been blocking his shot was now wrapped around his _left _wrist, pulling it up to eye level as a head looked over his shoulder.

"Needs sharpening," the man announced. "But not all together completely useless. Congratulations!"

And just as suddenly, the hands on him gave him a push, sending him stumbling into the shut door but leaving him free to move. The panic had dimmed somewhat. Remus was fairly certain he recognized that voice, or at least that accent, and it seemed safe to assume he wasn't in mortal peril at the moment. That didn't stop him from spinning around, wand up and at the ready.

Kakashi Hatake was standing on the closed lid of the toilet, crouched there as if it were the most comfortable seat on the train. One hand raised in greeting, the other loosely holding a dark brown wand.

The man smiled brightly. Or at least, Remus thought that was a smile. Or at least, it was supposed to look like one.

"Skulking about are we?" the man asked cheerfully.

"Trying to find you," Remus shot back in a level voice but the same one he used to use with James and Sirius when they tried taking the piss out of him.

"Behold! You have found me. Very well done."

Remus knew enough to know when he was being mocked. But he hadn't survived seven years in Hogwarts and a lifetime as a reject from society without developing a very thick skin. "Are your students on board?" he asked, trying to redirect the conversation towards something resembling a professional one. He also tucked away his wand. He couldn't very well hex the man he'd been sent to help.

Kakashi kept his out, twirling it lazily. "I don't know," he replied lazily. "Are yours?"

"They're not my students," Remus muttered, but he thought he got the point. The man clearly had been avoiding Remus up to now and yet clearly seemed to know exactly where he'd be and when. It wasn't much of a jump of deduction for the man to figure out that Remus had hovered anxiously until Harry – and his three new friends – had boarded the train and the limited safety it offered. None of the Order liked it when Harry was out and about. Too much that could go wrong. In short, Remus had known full well that Kakashi's students were all accounted for – what he had wanted to know was if the other man had even bothered to check. "You keep twirling your wand like that and you're going to hex something you wish you hadn't," he told the man primly.

Kakashi snorted. "Unlikely."

Remus sighed. He wasn't going to win this one, he didn't know why he bothered. Except a small part of him would never be able to resist pushing back. He'd blame James or Sirius for making him that way, but the truth was Remus had earned his spot in their group by being the same contrary cheeky troublemaker as the rest of them. He was just better at hiding it when needed.

"Well then!" the other man exclaimed loudly and with such forced cheer that it made Remus's teeth clench. "Now that I've found you and made sure you haven't wandered off or gotten lost, I can get back to work now. One of us needs to keep an eye on the train and can't do that from here. Have a nice ride, enjoy the comfy accommodations," he concluded with a wave to the cramped toilet. "See ya!"

And then he climbed out the window.

On the moving train.

Remus rushed to the window after him, sticking his head out immediately to check on the other man, only to yank it back in sharply when a passing tree nearly took it off. The train had been underway for some time now and had picked up its full speed. It was enough to send Remus's hair whipping just having the window down. It would take some strong sticking charms to keep someone attached at those speeds and it certainly wouldn't be pleasant.

But the man had disappeared just as suddenly as he had appeared.

Remus cursed. He turned about, taking in his cramped options and sighed again. It was going to be a long ride.


	12. Chapter 12

"Why is everything so slow here?" Naruto whined as they were shuffled off of the train and to the cheerless carriages waiting for them on the other end. A few other students craned their necks to get a glimpse of him, his loud voice carrying even on the noisy platform. From here on out, the three of them were going to stick out like Mist nin in Wind Country.

Sasuke gave the other boy a shove to hurry him along and hopefully shut him up some. It did not matter if everything was mind-numbingly, infuriatingly, insensibly slow here. They did not have a choice. Harry was going this direction and they would go where Harry went. The _incident_ on the train was just proof of that. They had only been back in Harry's world for a couple of days, they had not even stepped foot in the school yet, and still someone had already tried to kill his cousin. Twice. Harry insisted that the Malfoy boy would not have tried to _purposefully_ kill him – arguing that the other boy was a jerk but not that much of a jerk – but Sasuke was not going to trust in that. Everyone was always trying to kill you. That was one of the first facts of life a nin learned. Sasuke could accept that stabbing Harry's classmate was maybe not an option – all missions had their own unique constraints after all – but that did not mean the threat was not real.

All of Team 7 understood that. Even if Naruto acted like this was a vacation and not a mission.

The blond was busy waving back at the more obviously curious students and chattering to himself about everything from wanting more sweets to talking about toads. Two things Sasuke hoped had nothing in common and that he was more than content to ignore. Right up until Naruto froze in his tracks, halting Sasuke's own progress and blocking most of the walkway.

"What the fuck are those?" he asked.

Harry had moved ahead with his friends, but when Sasuke checked on him the other boy did not seem to notice anything was amiss. Sasuke looked back at what Naruto was pointing at and narrowed his eyes. He was not allowed to use the Sharingan here – another maddening mission constraint but one he could understand in the interests of keeping a low profile. But the limitation was still chafing and left him without the ability to confirm what his eyes saw. It was a jarring realization of how much he over-relied on it's strengths and something else to add to his list of things to improve on.

"Horses?" he wagered in answer to Naruto's question, hoping the other boy would move along if pandered to. There was nothing threatening as far as he could tell. The other students certainly did not seem to pay them any mind. Most of them walked by as if they could not even see the animals. The few that paid them any attention did not seem frightened, even if they did keep their distance.

"_That _is not a horse!" Naruto wailed. "It's creepy."

"You're creepy," Sasuke muttered back, rolling his eyes at the ridiculousness of a nin of Naruto's level being scared of a farm animal. "Move it or we will leave you."

"No! Don't" Naruto wailed before flinging an arm around Sasuke's shoulders and nearly dragging the two of them down.

"Damn it, idiot!" Sasuke complained as they stumbled down the last few steps leading to the line of carriages. He kept the two of them on their feet and made sure they did not take down any of the other people on the platform. He was not going to be responsible for hurting one of Harry's stupid classmates because they were not bright enough to get out of the way. Being the responsible one, however, limited his ability to lash out at Naruto for his stupidity.

Harry laughed and came back to help untangle the two of them. "Come on, it's not so bad. They're actually quite nice, in a creepy kind of way. You won't even notice once you're inside. " Harry led them closer, waiting for the students in front of them to board ahead of them. Once it was their turn, Sakura did not waste any time making sure she was the first one in to check it out. The girl Hermonie squawked loudly as she was _gently_ nudged aside to give Sakura the chance to secure the new environment. She glared after their teammate before giving Harry a look that was clearly meant to say something. And Harry clearly got the message because the laughter tapered off awkwardly.

Sakura's head popped back out, her friendly public smile firmly in place. "Looks comfy," she declared.

"I guess we'll take the next one then," Hermonie replied sharply. "Since you've decided this one is yours."

Sakura did not let it faze her. Ino had a much sharper tongue and somehow the two of them were friends. "We don't mind sharing," she replied sweetly, as if granting a particularly generous boon. Alright, maybe it was a bit antagonistic of her, but again, the girl had survived years of _Ino_.

"Carriages only seat four," Hermonie informed her. "Come on," she said to her friends, already turning away to get the next available coach.

And that was when the problem presented itself. Because Harry was clearly one of the friends that she expected to accompany her, and based on the look on Harry's face he had the same expectation. Separating Harry out had clearly been this girl's main goal since the moment they had met and it was clearly starting to wear his cousin down. Harry had that look on his face, the same one he wore whenever he was about to be foolishly noble and foolishly stubborn about something. It was the kind of look Sasuke was becoming far too accustomed to seeing on his cousin's face. It usually preceded him suggesting something not in his own self-interest. It was ridiculous and Sasuke was growing very, very tired of seeing it.

"Fine," Sasuke announced. "Naruto, take this one with Sakura. I will ride with Harry." There, a simple solution. Harry got to spend time with his friends and Sasuke got to keep his guard up.

"Sorry," Hermonie replied immediately. "We don't have room. Neville's riding with us."

"He is?" Harry asked, sounding surprised.

"Of course he is!" she told him, sounding just as shocked that he would even ask. She was also a terrible liar. Sasuke did not know who this Neville was, but he was willing to wager there had been no plan to ride with him before now.

"Right," Harry agreed. "Um."

"Five of us can fit!" Naruto declared using all of his usual exuberance to try to steamroll people into doing what he wanted. It was an annoying habit of his and one Sasuke was more than willing to take advantage of if it resulted in what he wanted.

But apparently the Naruto-charm (whatever that was, seriously why did people fall for that?) did not work on Harry's friends. "Don't be ridiculous," the girl told him primly. "You lot can take this one since you want it so bad, and _we_ will just have to see you later." Much later, he suspected, if she had any say in it.

Like hell. Sasuke had not come all the way out here, had not risked letting his cousin come back to this place, just to let some teenage civilian try to push him around.

"It'll be okay," Harry interrupted before Sasuke could say or do anything. Harry shifted his grip so he had a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and gave it a friendly squeeze. "It's just the ride up. We'll be right behind you. Just give me a moment, okay?"

"One of us should go with you," Sasuke muttered. He tried to keep his voice down and level and not aggressive, or whatever it was that tended to set his cousin off and start a fight. They did not need a public fight about this but clearly Harry was not taking things as serious as he should.

Harry gave him a weak smile. "We can't exactly spend every waking moment together from this point on. I'll be fine. I did survive five years of this without you. I'll see you in the Great Hall. I gotta talk to Hermonie before she does something drastic. I promise, you're going to like her once you get to know her. You guys can bond over my stupid ideas. I just – I need to talk to my friends right now, okay? I'll see you later."

The last sentence had a ringing finality to it. Sasuke wanted to trap the words in a scroll and burn it.

"Come on, grumpy," Naruto said quietly. "Let's go keep Sakura company. It'll be fun to ride actually in a carriage and not on the top."

Harry smiled, quick and big, before turning away and hurrying after his friends. Sasuke took one step after him before Naruto's firm grip on his collar yanked him back around the other direction.

"I could ride on the roof," Sasuke argued, still eyeing the contraption and calculating its ability to bear his weight and its weakness against attack. "They wouldn't even know I was there."

"Nu-nuh. You're riding with us. We're students, remember!"

"No, we are not."

" - we gotta do the student things!"

"Remember that when there is homework."

"Low, Uchiha, low. Now come on, stop being a creepy stalker and get in the creepy carriage with its creepy horses."


	13. Chapter 13

Hermonie could be a real terror when she wanted to be. It may have taken Ron a few years to come to understand that, but it was a lesson both he and Harry had learned well. When all of that pent up energy was directed at fixing whatever problem they had or doing something like punching Mafloy, then it was awesome. When any of that energy was directed at one of them, it was kind of terrifying. He didn't envy the person who got on her bad side.

But sometimes, some people sort of had it coming.

"Your new friends are kind of a pain in the ass," he commented as soon as the carriage with the three strangers pulled away. Hermonie had her back to them, still fuming silently as they waited for the next one to open its door.

"They weren't trying to be," Harry muttered back.

Which was a pretty fine distinction that didn't mean a whole lot to Ron, but Harry was the type to worry about stuff like that. Ron didn't have time for that kind of thing. A person either was annoying or they weren't. Intentions didn't do much good for the person having to put up with the behavior. If there was one thing having a bunch of siblings had taught him, it was that.

The three of them climbed in and Hermonie snapped the door shut before anyone else could even think to join them.

"What about Neville?" Harry asked, giving Hermonie a dark look. Ron had a feeling he knew exactly what about Neville.

"He can get the next one."

"So you lied."

"So I misdirected," Hermonie shot back without missing a beat. "Didn't seem like we were going to get you alone any other way."

"Kind of hard to get the chance to talk to you all of a sudden," Ron added. Hermonie might want to lead the charge on this, but Ron was plenty frustrated himself. "Months you've been gone, without a word or any clue where the hell you were or if you were okay, and even now you still can't find time to talk to your friends? Unless I guess you don't want to talk to us anymore." And alright, Ron was more than _a bit_ annoyed about this whole thing too.

Though apparently, only one of them was allowed to be out of sorts at a time. Hermonie huffed loudly and finally leaned back in her seat. She still had that mulish look on her face, but she didn't quite look ready to hit someone with a book anymore. "I'm sure that's not what this is, Ron. Right, Harry?"

"I am allowed to have other friends," Harry replied in a snooty tone of voice.

Well, alright then. Ron scowled back. He didn't know what Harry's problem was but if he didn't care that they had been worried about him then maybe they shouldn't have worried in the first place. Maybe he should have ridden with his weird new friends and they could have ridden with Neville. At least Neville had the good graces not to disappear places and not tell anyone. Or to at least apologize about it afterward.

Ron could see Hermonie look over at him like she was checking on something and it made him scowl even more. She didn't have to hover like that. He was fully capable of managing on his own without her playing interference between the two of them.

"No one's saying you're not allowed-"

"-particularly if you like them more," Ron added and ignored the frustrated look Hermonie gave him. Harry was the one who had implied it, not him.

"-but it's a little alarming how you're suddenly so attached to them. And you still haven't explained where you were all summer."

"Well, where were you, huh?" Harry retorted quickly. "You don't see me grilling you about where you've been."

"What kind of stupid question is that?" Ron complained. If Harry didn't want to answer what was a reasonable concern on their part then he could just say so. He didn't have to be a jerk about it. They weren't the ones someone was constantly trying to kill.

But of course Hermonie had to answer it like it was a legitimate question. "I was at home most of the time, except for a couple of weeks in Normandy, a few day trips, and the last two weeks I spent at the Burrow. Ron went to see his brothers. Now where were you? You weren't at the Order's, we checked. We managed to tag along with Fred and George when they went to drop some stuff off but you weren't there and no one wanted to answer any questions about where you were. It was like even they didn't know!"

"Not everybody needs to know everywhere I am all the time!"

Ron snorted. It got him glares from both parties and he glared right back. "What? We all know that's bullshit. Everybody wants to know where you are. You're Harry Potter. But Hermonie and I can't very well back you up on whatever thing it is you're doing now if you don't _tell_ us what the thing is."

Harry had flushed bright red at the bit about being the Harry Potter – and alright, maybe that was a bit childish to throw in his face but it was true – but he at least seemed to hear and understand the part about how it was a stupid idea to keep him and Hermonie out of the loop.

"It wasn't actually a secret," Harry finally said, sounding much more reasonable and like maybe he regretted being such a pain about it.

"Could have fooled us," Hermonie replied dryly. But it was an attempt at humor and they all smiled a little.

"Most of the Order probably didn't know," Harry finally confided.

Now that sounded interesting. Ron sat up. "Really? How come?"

"Well, I didn't really know where I was either, not you know, on a map or anything. But then Professor Lupin found me. Well, after the Death Eaters found us that is."

"Death Eaters!" Hermonie gasped.

"What the hell?' Ron added. The Order was supposed to be keeping Harry safe over the summer. Not letting him get attacked by Death Eaters when he was all alone and stuck with the muggles. Maybe Harry couldn't always come stay with Ron and his family, but surely there had to be a better set-up than this one!

Harry ran both hands through his hair, scratching at his head like he expected that to help him talk. "It's not a secret, not from you, I just – I don't even know where to start with most of this. You would not believe the summer I've had."

"That bad?" Hermonie asked gently. Because summers for Harry were never a good thing. Ron scowled just at the thought and it was a good reminder that as annoying as it was sometimes - that Harry always had to be in the center of things - there were definitely times that everything around him was kind of awful.

"Mostly good actually?" Harry replied, sounding surprised himself.

Hermonie startled. "Really?"

And yeah, Ron was pretty surprised too. And that niggling little doubt that Harry actually had gone off and had fun adventures without them and without even telling them was back. "How good?" he asked.

And Harry hesitated. Like there was something he didn't want to tell them. And that kind of hurt. They were his best friends. They had been since the first day of Hogwarts. Sure, they'd had their fights, but there wasn't any one else as close as the three of them were. It wasn't fair for Harry to hesitate like that.

"This is the part that's a secret," Harry told them.

"You think we can't handle a secret?" Ron complained.

"No, Ron that's not what I'm trying to say," Harry replied, as if Ron was the one being unreasonable here. "It's just – it's more weird than normal. Even for us. And you can _not_ tell anyone. We agreed it would be best if no one knew yet."

"We?" Hermonie asked while Ron rolled his eyes. Of course it was Harry and his new friends.

"It affects them too," Harry said and then suddenly he groaned loudly, collapsing back in his seat and tugging on his hair again. "Oh my god, you wouldn't believe how annoying they're being about this. I keep trying to explain to them that this isn't a good plan and that it's a really bad idea for them to try fighting Death Eaters one on one but they won't listen to me."

"Wait," Hermonie interrupted. "Who's fighting Death Eaters?"

"Sasuke! He wants to go charging off to take on Voldemort himself, I just know it. And I keep trying to explain to them that magic isn't the same as what they're used to. Sure, Sasuke can kick my butt in a fist fight and he could probably kill me before I even knew he was there, but that's not going to be enough against one of the unforgivable. Or even just a really well placed hex."

Hermonie clutched the edge of their bench tightly. "Harry, what kind of people are these? No one's killing anyone," she added, as if she could will that into being just on sheer determination alone.

Harry flushed and covered his face with one hand. "They're not killing anyone. Or at least they'd better not."

"Not helping!" she told him.

"Look, they just – have a different idea of how to handle things."

"They sound like criminals. Like Death Eaters. If that's how they solve their problems."

"They're not!" Harry yelled back.

Hermonie flushed a bright angry looking red and Ron wanted to yell back at him not to yell at her like that. But Hermonie didn't need him to do that for her. And this whole conversation had gotten so convoluted and out of hand and Ron wasn't even sure any more if they were supposed to be angry with Harry or worried about him or supporting him on this. It was just the three of them in this carriage but it felt like they were still on the crowded train with no way to talk to one another frankly. Even now, they could hear and feel the cobblestones underneath the wheels, one clear sign that they were almost at the front door for the school. Soon they'd have to get out with all of the other students. Find a place in the Great Hall for what was supposed to be a fun meal, but now was just going to be all kinds of awkward.

And Ron still didn't know what the hell was going on or what had happened to his best friend over the summer.

Harry was slumped in his seat, not looking nearly as angry as he had been most of last year. He looked worried. Like he had the couple of times when they'd gotten into the kind of serious trouble that had Ron mostly worried about the Howler his mom was going to send while Harry had been frantically worried they were going to kick him out of Hogwarts and take away all of his magic.

"Just tell us," Hermonie suggested.

Harry only hesitated for a moment this time, like he was catching his breath.

"Sasuke's my cousin," he announced.

Wait, what?


	14. Chapter 14

Sasuke was not allowed to stalk his cousin. He was not allowed to bully his way into every interaction the kid had with the outside world. He was not allowed to sneak around like a creeper and secretly ride on the top of his cousin's carriage.

He was, however, allowed to ride on top of _their_ carriage and creepily watch the carriage with his cousin in it, with enough intensity it was like he thought he could keep the guy safe just by staring at him. Normally, Naruto would've jockeyed for his turn to play point. Firstly, because being point was where the action was and waiting sucked. Secondly, because that was the job for the best nin in the group and that was _clearly_ him. Thirdly, because riding on top of something was always better than riding in it. There were probably more good reasons, but Naruto figured he should let Sasuke have this one. Maybe it would settle his angsty paranoid soul.

And maybe because it also meant being out there in the dark with the creepy horse things, but Naruto wasn't going to admit that one, not even in his own head.

Besides, this way he got to ride alone in the carriage with the beautiful Sakura.

It was great.

She had one of her textbooks with her and most of the wands they had bought. She was busy trying out each one using the first spell in the book. So far, nothing had happened, not so much as a small breeze or a flash of light. But Sakura had that focused look on her face and Naruto was confident she'd figure out the smarts needed to do the jutsu and teach the rest of them how. Naruto spent his time practicing how to hold the thing, pulling one out, then stashing it away in a different pocket, seeing how well he could juggle both a kunai and a wand at the same time, balancing it on his nose just to see if he could.

All and all, a very fun ride. If this was what school was like for Harry, no wonder he wanted to go back. It seemed much cooler than the Academy had been.

Shortly before the carriage came to a stop, Sasuke slid back in the window, settling down into his spot without even the slightest jostle to the carriage to betray the movement. They didn't want anyone seeing them do anything ninja-y, but like Sasuke was fond of saying, if you couldn't do something without people seeing you do it, then you weren't doing something ninja-y in the first place. Or something like that.

"Still alive?" Naruto asked him cheekily. Because someone had to poke at the uptight bastard and remind him to lighten up.

"There was yelling," he reported darkly.

Naruto frowned. Yelling – was usually not so good. Sure, Naruto liked to yell a lot, but Harry was more like his cousin, unlikely to get loud about something unless he was upset about it. "Trouble?"

"Unclear." Sasuke thought about it for a moment. "We may have to do something about it, however."

Sakura had stopped reading and peered at him. "Something being a diplomatic approach, yes?" she suggested.

"Maybe," Sasuke agreed with a huff. Good enough for now. Naruto could take that task on. He was clearly better at the diplomatic stuff than Sasuke was.

The cart finally slowed to a halt and Naruto didn't waste any time slamming the door open and bouncing out. It had been a novel experience using civilian travel, but he was ready to wander around some more. And judging by the sheer _size_ of the thing in front of him, he was going to get to do all the exploring he wanted.

"Holy shit!"

"Language!" Sakura snapped, smacking him in the head with her book.

"Oh, right," he said, he was supposed to be using English. "Holy shit!" he repeated, this time in the right language.

Sasuke snorted a laugh behind him and Naruto flashed him a bright grin. He wasn't sure what was funny, but getting an Uchiha to laugh was a freaking accomplishment!

Sakura sighed. "I meant watch it with the cursing," she explained, nodding to the students closest to them who all did kind of look a bit scandalized, like Naruto had farted or something. The old little man standing on the steps waving the students in looked horrified, so Naruto waved at him.

"I guess you're our special guests," a woman asked as she stepped up alongside them. Standing in a sea of students, some as small as genin, she looked as tall as Kakashi-sensei. The bright purple of her hair and the blood red of her robes, however, did far more to make her look as outlandish as Gai standing in a crowd. The woman smiled at them though and Naruto automatically grinned back as widely as he could.

"Glad to see you made it safely," she said. Naruto raised his eyebrows. Had they expected that much trouble? Seemed like if they had then they should've done something about it. But the lady didn't even wait to hear if there'd been any issues or not. She peered around the crowd as if looking for someone else. "I thought there was supposed to be a teacher with you?" she asked. "Did Remus already show him to the teachers' room?"

Naruto and Sakura shared a look. It wasn't a necessary look, because they both were far too used to this kind of thing with Kakashi to truly be caught off guard, but it was such a moment of mutual suffering it had to be recognized. "Kakashi-sensei isn't here," Sakura answered. "I'm sure he'll be along shortly. He'd better," she muttered. It was one thing for him to flake out on training, or wander off when they had easy missions, but this was an important one with far too many unknowns to be taking it lightly.

That and Sasuke was going to blow a gasket if he thought their teacher was slacking at protecting Harry.

"Huh. Does he need any help?" the woman haltingly asked.

"No," all three of them answered firmly.

"Well. Alright then, I suppose. Professor McGonagall asked me to fetch you lot. Since you're going to be here for the year, and actually taking part in our classes instead of staying separate like they did for the Tournament, she wants you honorifically sorted."

The translation jutsu struggled a bit but they got enough to understand there was an entrance procedure they had to go through.

"We need to wait for Harry."

The second carriage had arrived behind them even as they talked. This close now, Naruto could also hear the sound of raised voices – none of them were Harry's though. Which was hopefully a good thing and not an indicator that he was the one getting yelled at.

"Harry Potter!" the girl was saying as she climbed out after Sasuke's cousin. "You get right back here and explain what on earth you mean by that!"

"Impossible!" the red-haired boy added.

Harry was talking to them in a hushed tone of voice, trying to get them to be quiet. He didn't look up at all or try to see where they were.

"Hiya Harry!" the woman called out loudly, waving one arm in the air energetically. There were markings running down her arms, ink not tattoos. The translation jutsu was crap at the written word, but Naruto was able to squint and make enough to recognize the words for apple, milk and eggs and something that looked like a time and a date written down in a different spot.

"Hello, Tonks," Harry greeted back, his voice also loud – more likely to drown out the furious whispering happening between his friends and less about the distance between them. As the other trio joined them, Harry's friends went from arguing about something to staring at Sasuke like he'd transformed somehow.

He hadn't, of course, but it was almost funny to see how visibly Sasuke relaxed at once more having his cousin under his wing, so to speak. Or would've been funny if it wasn't also kind of pathetic and adorable all at the same time. Seriously, Naruto had always wondered what it would take for Sasuke to act like a real human being and not just a weapon. Apparently now they knew.

"I gotta borrow your new friends for a moment," Tonks announced. "You all can see each other afterward, okay?"

"Take them where?" Harry asked at the same time that Sasuke barked out "we are not going anywhere." Harry grimaced, but he didn't contradict his cousin.

"Sorting," Tonks replied with a broad grin. "The Headmaster thinks they should get the full experience. Personally, I think McGonagall probably threatened to quit if she had to have all of you in her house."

"We're going to someone else's house?" Naruto asked. Because if this building was what they meant when they said houses then this place was really really cool.

"School houses," Harry answered and there was a bit of hesitation in his voice that didn't sound good. "It determines which dorm you're in and who you take classes with."

"We're not going anywhere," Sasuke repeated.

"Well you can't sleep in our dorm," the redhead argued back just as sharply.

"I don't sleep," Sasuke declared.

And alright, that was enough of that. If they let this go on much longer, Sasuke would start threatening to eviscerate someone. "Harry's our guide," Naruto tried arguing. "Shouldn't we stay with him?"

The lady rubbed at the side of her face. "I really don't think this is as big of a deal as you guys are making it out to be. You'll still get to see plenty of each other in classes. And no need to worry about dorming, Ron, they're going to have their own separate dorm, but I think the teachers want some kind of structure or else how will they know what classes to put them in?"

"That's easy," Naruto offered. "Just put us in all the same ones as Harry."

The lady laughed. "Yeah, I have a feeling that wouldn't work well for the teachers. You're already a handful and I haven't even got you all in the door yet. No matter what, you're bound to have a few classes in common. It won't be so bad. There's only four houses. And hey, maybe you'll get lucky and one of you will be in the same house as him!"

"Luck, huh?" Nin had very specific ideas about luck. They weren't always the same ideas, but one thing they all agreed on was that stacking the deck in your favor was always the preferred method. "We can work with that."

Except for once it looked like both cousins were hesitant to leave each other's side. Normally it was Sasuke doing all of the clinging but Harry looked like he didn't know whether to argue about this or reassure them that everything would be fine. "Houses are kind of important," he finally said. "It's one of the best parts of being at Hogwarts."

"Great!" the Tonks lady agreed. "How about we move along then? Professor McGonagall's probably already thinking I messed this up somehow."

"I'll see you on the inside," Harry told them. He grimaced. "Try not to do anything, okay? Like, no threatening people or anything like on the train, okay? You're going to be with all the scared first years and they'll believe _anything_."

And while that did sound like a fun bit of mischief, clearly Harry thought they were going to burn down the place or something if left unsupervised. They were nin! If they burnt down anything it would be because they meant to, damnit!

"We got this!" Naruto reassured him, throwing one arm around Sasuke's neck, because he was pretty sure he was going to have to drag the guy away. The other arm he snuck around behind Sakura and she let him get away with it since they were trying to play nice.

Harry finally smiled. "Go on," he said. "Time to officially become a Hogwarts student. We'll try not to laugh at you too much while you stand with all the little icky first years."

"Don't underestimate us!" Naruto cried back, shoving and nudging his friends along. "Think I can train 'em like Konohamaru? That would be awesome. My own little army of little wizards! We'll take on the world!"

Harry laughed until they were separated from him by the crowd. Naruto didn't let go of his grip on Sasuke, but he had to pull less once the temptation to go back was out of sight.

"We need a plan," Sakura muttered as they followed along. They didn't bother with English between the three of them, and while it wasn't a fool-proof method, it did offer some privacy. Right up until someone here figured out their own version of a translating jutsu, that was.

"Right then, what's our goal?" Naruto gamely.

"Harry's in Gryffindor," Sasuke said, carefully pronouncing the last word. The three of them had heard enough about Harry's school and his house that at least they weren't going in completely blind. They just hadn't thought about being separated like this.

"Can we all just be in that one then?" Naruto asked.

"Somehow I suspect that's exactly what they're trying to avoid," Sakura reminded them quietly. She switched easily back and forth between worrying over their problem and smiling enthusiastically back at the woman guiding them. The purple haired lady didn't seem to mind that they were muttering among themselves. It certainly didn't slow her down from pointing out things along the way and trying to give them directions on how to find things even as they turned down more and more narrow corridors. This had to be the most convoluted path Naruto had ever taken inside a building and he was kind of impressed. From a security standpoint, it was probably very useful. From a logistics standpoint, they were going to be lost for days trying to figure it all out.

"Harry said there's four right? So statistically, one of us should be able to get the same house."

Sasuke nodded. There was no question about which one of them it would be. Sasuke wouldn't sleep if he didn't have the chance to hover and the rest of them wouldn't have a moment of peace if he couldn't, too busy trying to keep up with him and talk him out of doing something drastic.

"So that leaves three other houses for Naruto and I."

"I don't really wanna be in the same house as that guy Harry doesn't like," Naruto whined. "I might end up breaking him and Harry said no fighting."

"It would be useful to have him under surveillance," Sasuke countered.

"That goes both ways, however," Sakura pointed out. "I don't think we could maintain the deception of not being on Harry's side or hide our current limitations. Better to have more mobility."

Sasuke hemmed and hawed over it, but nodded just as they walked into a small, brightly lit room. Great, plan made. Now to figure out how the hell to execute it.


	15. Chapter 15

Hello! Apologies for disappearing for a while. COVID has made life complicated, but we've stayed healthy and things are starting to get back to normal for me. Updates should go back to being fairly regular now. Stay safe and be kind!

* * *

"My beloved students!" Kakashi exclaimed loudly and with such false cheer that it nearly made Sakura's ears bleed.

"Where the hell have you been?" she demanded.

"Language, Ms. Hanaro!" an older woman barked at her sharply and Sakura felt her spine stiffen. She wasn't used to older women yelling at her these days, not unless they were nin who outranked her. This woman was clearly in a position of authority. She was waiting at the front of the room, in a far more complex set of robes than what the students wore and a ridiculously tall hat. Her frown could have peeled paint. "I do not know what kind of language they allow where you are from, but I cannot fathom that they permit you to address your teachers in such a way."

Sakura's face burned. In part because she had never liked public dressing downs, but mostly because that lying swindle of a sensei had managed to hoodwink these people into believing he was actually a respectable teacher, and damn if he wasn't standing behind the woman even now, his one visible eye overdramatically squinting happily.

Hilarious.

"My apologies," Sakura managed to grind out. She was _not_ the rude one, but she had no doubt that Kakashi would take a great deal of entertainment out of building the illusion that she was.

Right on cue he sighed dramatically. "You'll have to forgive my high-spirited student. Mood swings, you know. That age and all that. I'm fortunately quite used to it."

The woman frowned back at him and maybe she wasn't completely oblivious to the fact that Kakashi-sensei was full of shit. He was certainly laying it on thick with the pretend misoginism just to be annoying. "Be that as it may," the woman finally said, in a tone that was almost begrudging. "For this year you are an assistant instructor at this institution and you will require the bare minimum of basic decency we expect of all of our students. That goes for all three of you," she told them. "You will be sorted into houses momentarily and the head of your house will be responsible for your behavior just as much as your teacher is. You _will_ behave accordingly. I do understand," she ground out, in a way that suggested she might not, "that there will be some cultural differences and education gaps that will have to be overcome, but I expect proper decorum and dedication to overcoming such deficits."

Sakura carefully kept her face blank but she wanted to scowl. She already had her back as straight and stiff as it would go, but there was the impulse to find some way to stand even more at attention. Or maybe hit something. This woman's first impression was clearly that she found them to be subpar and that subpar was far from acceptable. It was humiliating, but Sakura was no stranger to proving people wrong.

The woman stared at them for a moment more, studying each one of them. Her eyes tightened slightly when she looked at Naruto and Sakura had to resist smacking him. She knew _exactly_ what shit-eating grin was on his face. Naruto only respected one kind of teacher, the kind that could take everything the boy could dish out and give it right back to him. His idea of bonding was to see how long it took to drive a person to violence.

"I suppose we will see," the woman announced. "I am Professor McGonagall. I am the Deputy Headmistress of this school and the head of Gryffindor House. Wait here until the first years are brought in. You will join us only after they have all been sorted. I don't need you causing a stir while we're trying to get them settled in. At that point, the Headmaster will introduce you and your teacher, you will be given the opportunity to be _symbolically_ sorted. Afterwards you will join your new house at their table. You will dine with your house and make use of their common room, which I am sure your new housemates can show to you. Your dorming will remain separate, however, for the sake of accountability." She said the last word with only the slightest of drawl, just enough to make it clear that this arrangement was specifically to keep them out of trouble. "You will accompany your house to all official functions, including classes. We expect punctuality at this school and for you to respect all curfews and student limitations. Do not wander and do not be late. Is that understood?"

Nin didn't flinch. Even when they knew they were being set up for disaster. Team 7, on time? Expected to be where they were supposed to be? Not likely.

"Yes, Ma'am," they all three chorused dutifully.

"I'll make sure they're on time!" Kakashi-sensei lied like the lying liar he was. He waved at McGonagall until she finally turned away and disappeared through a side door.

All of Team 7 turned to stare at their Captain in disbelief and outrage.

"What?" the man exclaimed in mock innocence. "You will be on time, won't you?"

Sakura gritted her teeth. Of course they would! If there was one thing they had learned from Kakashi-sensei, it was how to not be like him when it came to appointments.

"We need time to scout," Sasuke argued. They'd already walked through five hallways just to get here and Sakura's sense of direction and depth suggested that they'd only barely breached the fortifications. It was going to take ages to scout out the entire terrain, but the sooner they got started, the better. They couldn't afford to be caught off guard by something or get lost.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow as if to suggest they should have already accomplished such a simple task. His attention shifted to Naruto lazily and the boy snapped to attention. "On it, Kakashi-sensei!" he chimed and in a moment there was a poof and two Naruto's standing behind him.

"Reconnaissance," Kakashi instructed. "Do not engage. And do something about the hair, you stand out like a club hostess at a temple."

Naruto frowned for a moment before all three Naruto's shared a look, smiled broadly, then two of them bound off.

Great. There was going to be trouble.

"Houses assignments," Sasuke demanded. "How do we rig it."

Kakashi-sensei gasped. "Sasuke-kun! They are allowing us to participate in a time honored and important part of their bonding ritual. We couldn't possibly think to desecrate that by attempting to circumvent the process, could we?"

All three of them stared at him mutely, but they all probably had the same look on their faces.

"So you already tampered with it?" Sakura finally asked. Because this was important and they did need to confirm that everyone on the team had done what they were supposed to do, even flaky teachers like him.

"Of course. Such little faith!" He shrugged. "They're going to put a sentient hat on you. It's creepy looking. Naruto, try not to be a baby about it. _Do not listen to it_. Focus on your assignments and it should place you there. It's susceptible to interference and is based on your ability to focus. Naruto, don't fuck it up."

"Hey!"

"We have decided to divide our forces," Sasuke reported.

Kakashi-sensei nodded in agreement. He didn't ask which house Sasuke intended to take. "Naruto can't be in Ravenclaw."

"Hey!" the blond objected. "Yes, I can! I totally can!"

"They _read_," Kakashi-sensei informed him. And really, that was all that needed to be said on the matter. Naruto could comprehend complex concepts and remember obscure details (when he wanted to) but the written word was never going to be his preferred form of communication. It wasn't nearly loud enough.

"We believe Syltherin to be a bad strategic move. Not enough benefit to justify the investment."

Kakashi-sensei hummed quietly. "I agree, we can't stick Konoha's number one loudest ninja there, he'll have to be Hufflepuff. Sakura-chan could probably handle Slytherin or Ravenclaw, but this part is your operation. I'll defer."

Which meant Kakashi-sensei didn't give a damn either way and was happy to let them think they were making their own choices.

"Fine," Sakura announced. "Ravenclaw it is."

"Don't screw this up, dobe," Sasuke added.

"I'll screw you up!" Naruto argued back.

"Children!" Kakashi-sensei called, clapping his hands once. "We can either stand here and watch the two of you flirt or we can get to work in the time we have."

Her boys sputtered and complained, but Kakashi-sensei was right. This was one of the few times they weren't being observed. They should take advantage of it as much as possible.

"The old crow should be back for us in approximately 15 minutes," Kakashi-sensei ordered. "You have that much time to scope out as much as you can. Be back in place or fake it enough she can't tell. Remember, don't be late!" he added cheerfully before disappearing in a puff.

Thank god they were all independent learners. If they had actually needed Kakashi-sensei to be around none of them would have survived past genin.


	16. Chapter 16

"Harry Potter, you are a terrible friend," Hermione informed him for the third time as they found spots at the Gryffindor table. As sixth years this year, it wasn't difficult to nudge out a space. The biggest issue was getting all the people you knew to leave you alone long enough to have a conversation.

"Look, can we not talk about this now?" Maybe telling them like that hadn't been his best idea, but they were his friends. He'd been looking forward all summer to getting to tell them everything. But between the convoluted trip back and all of the excitement on the train and the ninjas' insistence on keeping this a secret as long as possible, there just hadn't been time to figure out how.

"It's impossible!" Ron repeated.

Harry groaned. "I know, alright? It's crazy. But seriously, is this really the weirdest thing that's happened to me?"

"Well, no," Hermione agreed. Because she understood what it was like to have a normal life and not constantly be surrounded by ghosts, and dragons, and people who turned into cats and dogs and beetles. There was only so much ridiculousness that could happen in your life before you just started accepting it as normal.

Ron couldn't understand that to the same extent. It was one of those things they'd never be able to share with him. Because Ron had grown up with all of those crazy impossible things as part of his everyday life, they seemed normal to him. So ironically, when things really got weird, it bothered him more than Hermione and Harry. "Impossible, Harry!" he insisted. "Absolutely impossible. You've seen the Black family tree. I promise, it's not just families like that that track that kind of thing. I can tell you who all of my cousins are, and my second cousins, and my third cousins once removed. You don't just suddenly have a new cousin unless someone gets hitched or knocked up."

"Really, Ron?" Hermione sighed.

"And can you keep your voice down?" Harry added. "Or did you miss that part?"

"What part?" Dean asked, turning suddenly from his conversation on the right to see what the three of them were chatting about. "Don't tell me you lot have already started in on some nonsense. We haven't even had the feast yet. Can we please have a nice quiet year?" Seamus and some of the seventh year boys sitting nearby laughed.

"Sorry," Harry muttered.

Someone started calling out bets on what thing was going to happen this year, voices farther down the table chiming in with more and more ridiculous suggestions. Seamus took charge of passing judgement on each offering while Dean nudged his shoulder into Harry's. "Don't worry about it, just let us get through the welcoming feast without incident, okay?"

Harry smiled wanly back and agreed. He didn't want to explain that there'd already been one incident on the train that may or may not have been yet another Malfoy trying to kill him. And, oh by the way, his _other_ new cousin was now also trying to murder him and had sort of blown up his Aunt's house over the holidays. That was one of those stories about Harry's life that most of his classmates really didn't want to know.

Crap. He hadn't told Hermione and Ron about that part either. If they were this shocked he had one cousin, how was he going to explain two cousins? Though apparently no one else was terribly surprised at the idea that someone was trying to kill him. Hopefully they wouldn't tell Sasuke too many stories. Harry didn't think that would go over well. He'd managed to gloss over most of the more harrowing bits in telling them about his school. It was easy to focus on the wonderful parts when telling someone about magic and leave out all the darker aspects.

The first years filed in and Harry craned his neck to try to see his friends. It shouldn't have been difficult to spot them in a crowd, even if they were now wearing the standard school uniform. But McGonagall was alone, other than a gaggle of 11 year olds. They all waited respectfully through the Sorting Hat's performance, even the more unruly students quieting down to see what it would say this year, but as soon as the first student was called up, whispered conversations broke out in between rounds of clapping.

"Harry, are you sure?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, Hermione."

"Could be a trap," Ron added. "You know, lull you into a false sense of security and then bam! Somehow they trick you into being related to a Death Eater."

"He's not a Death Eater."

"Could be. I'm just saying, it's the ones you least expect."

"Well, since he isn't even a wizard, I don't think we have that problem."

Ron yelped like something had bit him. "What?"

"Impossible!" Hermione added.

Harry laughed, entertained despite himself. "Well, at least you two agree on something."

Hermione scowled back but Ron pointed out "well, in that case, maybe you should listen to us. It being remarkable and all that."

Harry grinned back at him. "I always listen. I just don't always do what you say."

Hermione huffed. "Your impulsiveness is going to get you into trouble one day, Harry."

Harry flinched back, suddenly glad the people around him were too busy clapping and cheering to notice him. That – hit a bit too close to home and everything that had happened last year. Impulsiveness was what had gotten other people hurt last time. Being at the Dursley's might have been awful, but it was going to be even worse here with so many reminders of just how badly he screwed up last year. It had been so easy over the last few weeks not to think about Sirius or the battle at the Ministry of Magic. He had had plenty of distractions recently. Now that he was back in school, though, it was harder to not think about how awful everything had been last year and how much worse he had made it by trying to fix things on his own.

"Oh, Harry, I didn't mean it that-"

The Headmaster cut off whatever else Hermione might have said by standing up and calling for everyone's attention. Harry turned to stare at him and ignored the way Hermione tried to catch his eye. It was one thing to talk about Sirius with Sasuke and the others. They had a very different idea about the world and they hadn't been there during the worst of it. They hadn't seen all of the times that Harry screwed up. All of the missed opportunities he had had to make things right. Hermione and Ron had seen the worst of it, and while he knew they were good friends and would think the best of him, it was still harder to talk about it with them. Harder to ignore the things he'd like to ignore. But thankfully the Headmaster could always be counted on to make waves at the opening feast, and even though Harry had a pretty good idea what those waves were going to be this time, it was still a very welcome distraction.

"I am very happy to introduce this year's new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," the Headmaster announced, without a hint of irony that this was the sixth new teacher they had had in as many years. He made it sound like the most natural thing that they would need a new one, as if that was just another part of a new school year, and not because the last one was unhinged and had to be forcibly removed after nearly shutting down the whole school.

The Headmaster beamed happily. "We are very fortunate to have gained a teacher with decades of experience combating some of the most interesting cases of Dark magic, and who comes to us with a wealth of real world experience that I hope you will all benefit from. I hope you will all do your best to welcome Nicolas Northstein to our great school!" There was a smattering of polite applause, all of the students too accustomed to new faces circulating through to be that curious.

"Bets on what happens to this one?" someone muttered.

"Professor Northstein," the Headmaster continued, "served as an Auror for over 20 years and has agreed to come out of a well deserved retirement in order to contribute to ensuring you receive a well rounded education. I'm sure he has plenty of interesting stories to share with all of you and I hope you take advantage of this opportunity."

Northstein was an older wizard, not quite as elderly as the Headmaster, but he had a head of hair completely gone to white – what hair there was left. He had carefully stretched one side of it over to cover the bald spot in the center the way Mr. Dursely was starting to. But while it made Vernon look like a walrus with a wig on, Northstein did manage to pull off a more stately look. He was shorter than the Headmaster and he could maybe be called portly, but it was the solid kind of mass that if the man had been a student, Harry would have assumed he was more comfortable on the Quidditch pitch than in the library. Hopefully he would do a better job of actually teaching the material they needed than some of the other teachers they had had.

Any other year Harry would have been vibrating with excitement to get to learn from someone who had actually been an Auror. But there was still no sign of Kakashi-sensei or the others and now Harry was starting to get worried. Had something happened to them? Had the plan changed and he hadn't heard about it yet? What if the Headmaster had found out that the nin weren't having much luck with casting spells – more like no luck – and had decided to take back his invitation for them to come spend the year at Hogwarts? Harry didn't know what he'd do then. He couldn't leave Hogwarts, the thought was impossible, but a whole year was going to be a long time not to see his cousin.

But just as Harry was starting to rise out of his seat, hoping he could go figure out what was going on, the Headmaster called for everyone's attention again.

"We are also very happy to welcome some special guests this year. As a continued part of Hogwarts's efforts to increase our cooperation and communication with other wizarding societies, and build greater connections between us all, we are happy to announce that the Hidden Village of Konoha has sent one of their best instructors and three of their students to join us this year and observe how our educational system is structured. Konoha is a magically community very different from ours and we hope that this opportunity will be highly educational for everyone involved."

As the Headmaster spoke, McGonagall escorted the four of them out from a side room. Kakashi-sensei was chatting with her cheerfully, though judging by the look on McGonagall's face, she did not find it as entertaining. The others trailed behind, too busy looking at the whole room to do much else. And yet even in a sea of students, one of the first things Sasuke did was find Harry. Harry smiled back, hoping it would be encouraging. It could be intimidating standing at the front of this room, Harry knew.

The Headmaster welcomed them up in front of the head table. "Professor Kakashi is a decorated war hero and for the past few years has participated in Konoha's advanced teaching program. As such, he has graciously agreed to serve as an Assistant Professor for our DADA classes. So you can all expect to see him in your classes, observing and providing additional one on one support for our students. This is a great opportunity for all of those who studies may have fallen slightly behind last year."

Which was one way of putting it. Harry supposed that made sense. So far none of the nin had been able to produce even a single spell, even though they all agreed that they could clearly access magic and they could feel what it should be like. Having Kakashi-sensei as an assistant – with limited responsibilities – would give him a great deal more wiggle room. As it was, it was going to be interesting to see what Kakashi decided to impart to his new students. Harry had a feeling there was going to be a fair amount of learning how to knock someone off their feet and how to throw sharp things. Sasuke had managed most of Harry's remedial training in that regard, but the couple of times that Kakashi-sensei had tagged along or offered his own recommendations had been interesting. Half of the time, Harry had suspected the man of intentionally trying to get him to mess up. His advice always seemed to result in Harry flat on his back or gaining new bruises the first dozen or so times he tried it. But more often than not, somewhere after that dozen-th time, it suddenly started working really, really well.

Kakashi-sensei smiled out at the crowd of students, though most of them probably didn't realize it. He certainly did draw more attention and curiosity than Professor Northstein had. Northstein looked like someone's grandfather, but Kakashi was just odd. He still had his mask on, an unusual addition to wizarding robes, but not the weirdest thing Harry had seen. The eye patch, however, drew a number of whispers and Harry was sure the Hogwarts's rumor mill would be busy coming up with a variety of explanations for it. At least he'd switched out his more military looking headband for a deceptively mundane looking eyepatch. He almost looked normal by wizarding standards but Harry suspected he was the only one who felt the entire thing was slightly _off_ somehow.

Harry had been so nervous about introducing Team 7 to his friends and about helping Sasuke and the others blend in, he hadn't thought about the idea of Kakashi-sensei as a teacher. Like, a real one and not the odd arrangement that Team 7 had which seemed more competitive than anything else. Suddenly the idea of Kakashi-sensei leading a group of Harry's classmates through a set lesson plan was kind of frightening. There were going to be a lot of visits to the Hospital Wing this year. And god help them if the man brought a book to class.

"We are also happy to welcome three of Professor Kakashi's students. They will join our sixth year students in their studies this year. While they will have their own dorm arrangements, they will still attend class with you. As such, they will need temporary House assignments!" the Headmaster concluded cheerfully. "Professor McGonagall, if you would please."

The three nin eyed the hat warily when it was brought over and Harry had the sudden terrible vision of one of them trying to stab it when it started talking. Possibly even while it was still on their head. Hopefully someone had warned them about what was coming up.

"Sakura Haruno," Professor McGonagall called before handing the girl the hat.

She took it carefully, keeping it level in her hands as if she expected something terrible to come dribbling out of the top if she tilted it too much. She lifted it up and placed it gingerly over her pink hair. And then they waited.

And waited. The hat sometimes took a long time to reach a decision but this felt unreasonably long. Some of the students started whispering among themselves. Mostly it was complaints about waiting for the food to start. More than one person took advantage of the lull to wonder where in the hell Konoha even was or why they were here this year.

Hermione had that thoughtful look on her face that meant she was working out far more of what was happening than anyone else was.

Finally the hat called out Ravenclaw! but even it sounded hesitant, as if it wasn't quite sure on the matter but figured it should make some kind of decision and move on.

Sakura did not look surprised but Harry knew her well enough to know she could keep her feelings to herself if she wanted to. She wasn't quite as hard to understand as Sasuke, but she was just as careful with what she let you see. She walked calmly over to her table that clapped and cheered for her. No one quite seemed to know what to say to her when she took a seat at the very end, but they all seemed proud to have had the unexpected attention to their house.

"Sasuke Uchiha!" McGonagall called out next and Harry's stomach dropped. They hadn't talked about the possibility of them getting sorted. The Headmaster hadn't done anything like that when Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were there. Maybe this way made more sense since there was only the three of them and not an entire year's worth of students. But Harry knew how much Sasuke hated not having a plan and the sorting hat was not something you could plan in advance for even if you tried. But Sasuke took the hat and slapped it on his head without hesitation. As if he was impatient for this whole business to be over with so he could go back to being menacing and hovering.

The wait was even longer this time. And even Professor McGonagall looked concerned. She took a step forward, as if she intended to intervene, but then seemed to think better of it. She glanced more than once at the Headmaster, but the Headmaster was too busy talking lightly with the teachers at the table.

The hat sounded almost begrudging when it cried out "Gryffindor!"

Harry was too surprised and relieved to properly clap or cheer. Sasuke in his own house! How perfect was that! Harry could keep him out of trouble if he was close at hand. And once he got Hermione and Ron to understand, he was sure they would help him too. Team 7 didn't want anyone to know Sasuke was Harry's cousin yet, but at least now they would have an excuse to hang out together and talk.

Sasuke didn't take a seat at the far end of the table. Instead he walked purposefully until he was only a couple of seats away from Harry and his friends before forcing his way into the small space between one group and another. There wasn't really enough room for another person, but Sasuke made himself fit. And the people on either side of him just had to adjust. It caused a few looks, but that didn't stop some of the sixth and seventh years from leaning over to introduce themselves. Sasuke answered their questions bluntly (name, age, where he was from, even though the latter answer didn't help shed any more light on the issue than the Headmaster's introduction had). He wasn't rude, thankfully, but it wasn't quite the open warmth that most Gryffindors were familiar with.

"Naruto Uzumaki!"

One more to go and it was maybe too much for Harry to hope that the other boy would also end up in Gryffindor. Harry liked his cousin, but sometimes it felt like they needed Naruto as a kind of buffer between them. Plus it probably wasn't a good idea to let Naruto go anywhere alone. If there was a good chance that Sasuke left on his own would result in him making enemies or threatening to kill someone, then there was an even better chance that Naruto was likely to get _himself_ killed or set something on fire if not reined in.

Naruto took his time putting on the hat, giving it a few good pokes and trying to talk with it before finally yanking it on snuggly. This wait was much briefer than the others. The hat was only on his head long enough for people to stop clapping and go back to what they were doing before it confidently cried out "Hufflepuff!"

Naruto was the first one to cheer this time, calling out a quick thank you to the hat before shoving it at McGonagall and bounding down. The Hufflepuff table rallied quickly, clapping as enthusiastically as they would for any new student. Naruto said hello to a number of students before accepting a seat halfway down. He immediately started asking questions and talking loudly, his accent carrying clearly over the distance, lapsing only occasionally into his own language when he had trouble figuring out the word he needed.

The hall settled down as food appeared on the tables and minds focused more on filling their plates. Harry watched Sasuke add boiled potatoes to his plate. He wanted to pass him the roasted beef since he now knew that was something his cousin liked, but the distance was a little bit too far to be normal and he wasn't sure how friendly was too much now and could they talk at the table or was it best if they didn't?

"Harry," Hermione asked, leaning over the table. Her own plate was empty, which was good because otherwise her hair would have been in it. "Where exactly is Konoha?"

"It's on an island," he answered. "In the Pacific."

"What country?"

It took Harry a moment to remember how to say the name in the local language. He had a feeling saying Fire country would not suffice for Hermione, but when it wasn't in English it sounded like something a place might be called. It was a little odd to go back to not using English, but the translation jutsu was still in effect and it rolled off his tongue with no trouble.

"Harry Potter," Hermione sighed. "There's no country called that. If you're going to lie, come up with a better one," she told him, sounding more than a little annoyed. But she flopped back in her seat and pointedly ignored him as she filled her plate.

Harry groaned and mashed his roasted carrots. He _wasn't_ lying. He didn't know how he was going to get this all straightened out but he needed to do it fast before both Hermione and Ron stopped talking to him all together.


	17. Chapter 17

Nicolas Northstein had attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry many, many years ago, but little about the institution had changed since then. Even Albus Dumbledore was still here. Northstein hadn't been the best student during his years here, but he'd done well enough to get into the Aurors program and had had a career he could be proud of there. They may not all be the great master detectives that the pulp stories might make you want to believe, but any Auror worth his wand knew the importance of a good understanding of the fundamentals. You never knew when a tidbit of information was going to be the difference between surviving an encounter with some nasty piece of work or ending up dead.

But it had been a few years since he had seriously done any research or theoretical work in any form or fashion. After retiring, his time had been more taken up with visiting with his new grandchild and trying to grow a decent looking Wiggentree. But when Albus Dumbledore comes to you and says he desperately needs someone to give this generation's students a fighting chance of surviving what anyone with half a brain could see was coming - well, a good Auror would never say no to that. The teaching was going to be an adjustment, but Northstein generally liked children and he had some experience training up new recruits. He was confident he could muddle through it. What the Headmaster had not discussed with him beforehand was this nonsense about an Assistant Professor.

The least the old man could have done was tell him about it before the actual introductions.

"I hope we work well together," this Kakashi Hatake declared. He didn't offer his hand and his words were oddly grabbled by an accent Northstein did not recognize.

"Yes, as do I," Northstein agreed because what other choice did he have of what to say under such circumstances? "I wasn't aware we would be working together," he finally added, because it was one thing to be polite, but this really wasn't something that could be just ignored. "Where did you say you were from?" he asked, trying to remember the details of what the Headmaster had said in the man's introduction. He had been too distracted by the unwelcome news that they had apparently strung someone else into doing this job as well. That they were somehow supposed to work together – as if he needed further complications! Northstein had worked enough cases in his life. He damn well knew what happened when you started in on this nonsense of _co-coordinating._ Might as well hobble him now. It was going to undermine his authority with the students if there was constantly another teacher hanging about. Did Dumbledore not trust him to do a good enough job on his own?

"Konoha," the man said, like that was supposed to make a bit of sense. Geography might not be Northstein's strong suit, but he knew most of the major hubs. He'd worked with several other law enforcement agencies from a variety of different magical communities over the years. Even traveled to a few of them on business. He'd never even heard of a place called Konoha. A war hero, Dumbledore had said. That right there had to be some kind of exaggeration. The only real war the magical world had seen in Northstein's lifetime had been the one with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. And yes, there had been heroes in that war. And even a few of them were still alive today. But Northstein was willing to bet this man hadn't seen one bit of that fighting. Northstein had lived through it. Done his best to do his part – both during and afterward when the clean up was almost just as bad. He'd known a few men he might have called heroes – but they were also the type to deny having done anything special. He didn't know what to think of someone else trying to claim such a title.

"And you have a background in DADA?" he asked.

The other man shrugged as if it didn't matter or as if he didn't care. Northstein wasn't sure what was more annoying but he was quickly losing any patience.

"I'm sure I'll manage."

"Well, what are your strongest subjects? If we're going to work together, I should know what I can expect you to be able to handle."

The man shrugged again and it was like dealing with one of the teenagers they were supposed to be teaching. "I don't know," the man drawled. "Never spent much time in school. I'm good at not dying."

"I see," Northstein gritted out. He wasn't going to belabor a conversation that was clearly a mockery of anything serious. "Excuse me," he said before turning away abruptly and leaving to find Dumbledore. Maybe he could still talk the man out of this nonsense. Northstein didn't need an assistant. This might be the first time he had taught but he was perfectly capable of walking a bunch of children through the basics. He did not need this man fouling up his work. And really, Dumbledore might be well respected but he needed to stop setting up such ridiculous policies like this at his school. They didn't need outsiders coming into their institutions like this. It was going to be a distraction for his students and he highly doubted the man – much less these guest students – had anything of value to contribute to the very fine education Hogwarts already provided.

It took a little maneuvering to get the Headmaster's attention. It seemed like everyone else had something to say to the man and Northstein wasn't very high on that list. But if there was one thing Northstein did have a lot of experience with, it was dealing with bureaucracy and office politics. He'd learned the exact amount of bullheadedness that was needed to get anything done when you were dealing with an institution.

"A moment of your time, Headmaster," he asked, not really giving the man time to not agree. "About this man Hatake. I'm not sure I understand the expectations for his role. And I'm not entirely sure the classroom is the best place for someone whose education does not meet British standards."

"Bit of a sudden addition, yes," the Headmaster said, nodding along as if that explained things. "But I'm not sure why you assume his knowledge is in some way inferior to ours." It wasn't quite a question but there was something about it that made Northstein feel defensive. Like his own judgement was being called into question and he didn't feel like that was fair for someone expressing a legitimate concern. The man himself admitted that he was poorly educated.

"I didn't say the man was inferior," he made sure to point out. "And I understand the intent is to help improve their curriculum, but as you yourself pointed out, the DADA classes in particular have suffered greatly due to a constant change in responsibility. Surely it would be better to place the man with another teacher. A more established one. Not that I think I can't handle it, sir, but I think it might be better for the students, you understand. They don't need the distraction."

The Headmaster hummed thoughtfully and Northstein frowned at him, trying to figure out exactly what kind of hum that was. Dumbledore had a reputation for keeping his cards close to his chest, but it was a trait in a supervisor that Northstein had never appreciated. Made things damn uncomfortable for anyone further down in the food chain.

"Professor Kakashi has excellent qualifications, I assure you," Dumbledore said. "And who said they were here to learn from us? Maybe they're here for us to learn from them! I think your class will be an excellent fit. We could use some flexibility and creative thinking in our DADA classes. I'm sure you agree."

"I see," Northstein replied. Apparently he was going to be expected not only to manage his own lesson plans but also oversee this man and manage his performance as well. That was certainly far more than he had expected. "_Professor_ Kakashi?" he asked.

The Headmaster shrugged. "I suppose we could insist on the Assistant Professor title, but it does seem like quite the mouthful for the students and not very egalitarian."

Northstein personally felt there was no problem with things not being egalitarian. That might be the kind of world Dumbledore liked to live in, but anyone in the Ministry understood there was a very clear chain of command and authority, and you had best use the correct term when addressing someone, no matter how complicated that title might be. "I meant the Kakashi part. I thought that was the man's first name."

"Ah, yes, it is! Kakashi Hatake, I believe is how it is properly pronounced, but maybe I should check with the young man again and make sure I have that right."

A name like that was going to be a mouthful no matter how many times you had the person repeat it to you, and god help him if he had to write it out on anything. "It's not proper," Northstein grunted out, hoping this wasn't some kind of new-age nonsense that he would be expected to also participate in. "Surely you don't expect the _students_ to call him that, do you?" _Maybe_ if it had been a sensible name, like John or George, there might be some justification in using it so the students didn't have to struggle to pronounce the man's surname, but even then, it was hard for Northstein to imagine such a thing!

"Well, yes!" the Headmaster said. "Apparently he prefers to go by Teacher Kakashi, so he asked to use that title. I think it's quite friendly, actually." The Headmaster smiled at the idea and Northstein felt like he was somehow being maneuvered into a trap.

"I think not," he said firmly. He was not going to be tricked into this impropriety.

"Oh, well, to each his own I suppose. Cultural differences and everything. What a wonderful opportunity. I'm sure I can count on the whole staff to be supportive. Should be a very exciting year and so educational for the students. I'm looking forward to it." And apparently that was the end of the conversation because the Headmaster turned and left as abruptly as Northstein had when he had escaped his own unpleasant conversation with Hatake.

Great. This had been complicated enough even without this unwanted addition. He already had the extensive job of trying to cover the basics and make up for some of the slack left over by the mess the Ministry made of it last year. A complicated task all on its own, particularly since he had private concerns about starting a new career like this so late in life. But he'd been willing to do it as a favor to an old teacher. Even though he regretted the time away from home and his family – particularly with everything that was going on in the world right now. He didn't like being away from his wife like this and he wasn't blind to the fact that being at Hogwarts put him even closer to the epicenter of much of the trouble. Any one of those things would be enough to have to deal with. Now he had to do all of that while carrying the weight of this unprofessional foreigner as part of some feel-good program.

Professor Northstein frowned and grumbled all of the way back to his new quarters.


	18. Chapter 18

"A moment of your time?" Hermione demanded as she hooked one hand into Harry's arm and tugged. The feast had dragged on and on, seeming much longer than any other year, though Hermione knew logically that it was the same amount of time as always. But when you wanted desperately to ask your best friend what the hell was going on but couldn't - even a feast seemed unbearably long. And the walk back to the tower had been even worse. An insidious illusion of privacy as the three of them trailed along behind the others, when in truth they had half of the house listening in. No one gossiped like Hogwarts students, and between that and the first years mooning after Harry, it was hard to even get a word in without someone listening.

It didn't help that that Sasuke Uchiha kept watching Harry like he planned on abducting him. Harry said they were related, but Hermione had a hard time believing that. Conversely, she unfortunately had no trouble believing someone was trying to take advantage of Harry.

So as soon as they were in the tower and everyone else's attention was diverted either to exploring their new home or settling back in, she grabbed him before he could slip away again. She wanted answers and she wanted them now. And they better come with a good explanation or she was going to the Headmaster himself. She didn't care what the boys thought of her for it. She wasn't going to risk Harry on something like this.

"Now?" Harry asked, making it sound like an unreasonable request. He was craning his neck to see over the crowd, no doubt looking for his new friend. "But we haven't even-"

"_Harry Potter_, if you don't-"

"Alright! I'm coming!"

Good. She wasn't sure what her threat was going to be but she would have come up with something he wouldn't have liked.

"Can I at least grab my cloak and the map?" Harry asked a bit testily. "If that's not going to be too much of a trouble."

"I don't know," she snapped back, "are you going to ignore us if you do? _Yes_, of course you can. But I'm warning you, I can get into the boy's dormitory and you will not like it if I have to come after you."

Harry rolled his eyes and it wasn't all in good humor. "You're kind of a terror," he told her curtly before slipping away.

She'd decided to give him exactly five minutes to grab what he needed and get back, but this time Harry returned promptly, a lumpy bag in one hand and a grumpy look on his face. Ron was close behind him looking even grumpier. This was going to be a fun conversation. They darted back out into the hallway when no one was looking and took a couple of turns to get away from the entrance before Harry plopped down on a window bench.

"Here's good," he said. "I don't want to go too far away. We've got the map to keep a watch with."

The three of them stared at each other. Or rather, Hermione and Ron stared at Harry waiting for him to say _something_.

"I don't know why you don't like them," Harry finally exploded. "They're really nice and cool and I wish you'd stop being so difficult about all of this."

Hermione could feel her whole face flush and had the desire to yell back at him just as churlishly – and judging by the look on Ron's face she wasn't the only one. But that kind of thing wasn't going to get them anywhere. And Hermione, damn it, could be the reasonable one here even if it killed her. "I don't dislike them," she clarified. "I don't trust them. Not at all. Cousins, Harry? Really? Don't you think we'd know by now if you had cousins? Don't you think someone in the Order would know?"

"Did you know my dad was adopted?" Harry shot back.

"Do you?" she countered. "Do you have any proof that anything they say is true?"

"I don't need proof!" Harry shouted and it had to be the most arsine thing she had ever heard come out of his mouth. She loved Harry, she really did, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that he wanted a family - any family - and it wouldn't take much of a leap from that to figure out the perfect trap for him. This was just like the mess with Sirius in third year all over again, and while he might not have meant Harry any ill will, that didn't mean that was the case here. Realistically speaking, it was more likely to be the complete opposite. But telling him he was an idiot wasn't going to fix anything. In fact, it was just as likely to make it worse since Harry could be the most stubborn person she knew. And that meant a lot when you took into account that that included in comparison to Ronald Weasley – and for that matter herself as well. She sighed.

"James Potter came from a very old wizarding bloodline. You would think it would be fairly well known if something like that had happened," she tried, doing her best to make it sound reasonable and conciliatory and not like she wanted to shake some sense into him.

Ron laughed. It wasn't his angry laugh, like when he was feeling mean spirited about something and wanted to rub it in. It also wasn't his more charming snorting laugh that he sometimes did when she managed to say something funny and unexpected. It was his nervous, forgot-something, bungled-something-up laugh. She knew that laugh well. She turned slowly to look at him.

"Ron?"

"About that adoption…"

"You knew?" Harry demanded. And he sounded so hurt that Hermione really, really hoped the answer would be no.

"Well, yes, sort of. I mean, everyone did. Or used to. Sort of. At one point it was public knowledge and everything. It was a big thing about the Potters, both that they couldn't have children of their own and that they adopted one." Ron was rambling by this point, a stream of words that didn't seem to have any logic or thought process behind them. Maybe he felt guilty. Harry still looked ready to fly apart at the seams, but he was distracted with all of the information coming at him. "It wasn't exactly normal behavior for a family like that, adopting, you know? But I kind of get the impression they told anyone who questioned them on it to go fuck themselves. Just, not in those words. Probably. I think it's part of why the Malfoys no longer rubbed shoulders with them and everything. From what our family heard from the gossip. Not really our social circle or anything, now is it, but you know, people talk. Old family gossip is the best kind of gossip or whatever. I think everyone eventually just kind of accepted it. Particularly since there wasn't any – you know – _issues_."

"Issues?" Hermione cut in sharply.

Ron flushed and waved one hand as if they could sweep that under the rug. "You know. Squib, issues," he muttered at the end. At least he had the decency to look embarrassed about it.

"Let me get this straight," Harry said, interrupting what should have been a long conversation about ableism and prejudice. "Everyone else in the wizarding world knew about this and no one thought to mention it?"

Ron shrugged. "Hell if I know. I guess it was just old news, you know? He must have come from another wizarding family. Rich families do that sort of thing sometimes when they can't manage their own and it's supposed to all be above the board and everything. So no one made much of a stink about it. Well, no one who mattered."

Harry laughed. And kept laughing.

"I don't think it's very funny," Hermione commented. These days nothing about family bloodlines seemed very funny since the only time she ever heard about them was when someone was either subtly or aggressively pointing out that she'd never be as good as everyone else since her parents were dentists.

"My dad wasn't from a wizarding family," Harry announced. "He was thrown out of his own family for being a squib by their standards."

"Impossible," Ron replied. "Your dad was a great wizard. He made Head Boy."

"They told everyone he was dead," Harry continued bitterly. "They hid the truth from everyone. Even Sasuke didn't find out until just this summer. And even he only found out because the person who killed his family apparently wants to kill me too, now that he knows I'm alive."

"Oh, Harry," Hermione said as she dropped down onto the bench beside him. Just like that, any annoyance with him just disappeared. It was a distressingly common occurrence with Harry. It was hard to stay frustrated with him, even when he was being difficult, whenever you were reminded about all of the awful things he had to put up with. What did it say about his life that of course he'd only found out about something like this because someone _else_ wanted to kill him? She sort of wanted to wrap an arm around him, but he had that hunched shoulder look that suggested it wouldn't be very welcome right now. Ron moved to lean against the wall on Harry's other side. When she looked up at Ron, he had that panicked look on his face that meant he didn't know what to do with this and didn't understand why his life kept having such complicated emotions in it. Hermione didn't know what to do either.

"I can't seem to catch a break," Harry finally muttered.

Ron snorted. "Wouldn't be us if we did."

Harry managed a weak chuckle. "Yeah, I suppose. So that was my summer. My dad was thrown out of his real family, who are also all dead now except for Sasuke and the guy who murdered them _also_ wants to kill me. Sasuke's the one good thing that's come out of it. How was yours?"

"Horrible," Ron quipped. "I had to spend half of it camping in the cold with Charlie. Who snores. Simply awful."

Harry laughed again.

"I – I had to visit my cousins on my mum's side," Hermione tried. She didn't normally talk about her family much. Most of the people here wouldn't understand a thing she said about the muggle world, and with Harry it was too much like walking through a minefield trying to talk about families and what a normal life should be like. Clearly, he hadn't had a lot of experience with that in either world - not the muggle or the wizarding one. "They like boy bands," she continued, warming up to the topic. "A lot. And I can't even talk to them about school, because I don't know anything about normal schools and I always look like an idiot when I try."

"Well," Ron announced. "I don't think it can get much worse than Hermione looking like an idiot in front of someone. Looks like she wins for worst summer."

They all laughed and Hermione was finally able to wrap her arm around Harry's and lean on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Me too," Ron added. "I mean, that sucks. You're still a jerk for not writing."

"Sorry," Harry muttered. "It was really hectic and I was struggling just to keep up with things."

Ron seemed willing to accept that, which was a blessing. Hermione loved her boys, but god help her when the two of them took it into their heads to be angry at each other. It usually took a life or death situation to fix things again and she was getting mighty tired of it.

She didn't want to say anything to spoil the moment, but she also couldn't just stand by and do nothing. "Harry, are you sure about this? If the adoption was common – if somewhat dated – knowledge within the wizarding world, then that still means someone could be trying to use it against you."

Harry snorted. "Well, if they are, it's one hell of an elaborate production. Look, if I tell you something, you can't tell anyone else. Not anyone, okay?"

Ron rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. "It's us. When would we ever?"

"Unless we think your safety is at risk," Hermione caveated. Because she was smart enough not to agree blindly.

"It's not my safety I'm worried about," Harry told her, but he seemed to be more reassured than annoyed. He took a deep breath before whispering so quiet they could barely hear him, as if he was afraid the walls had ears. "They can't cast spells."

"_What_!"

* * *

Notes:

So since the topic has come up - I stopped replying to comments (good or bad) a few years ago because I found it too stressful and not conductive to my writing process. So if you don't like my writing, please stop demanding answers from me or leaving long comments listing all of the ways you think I've written something poorly. That's no fun for anyone and even with the best of intentions, it is not helpful in my case.

For everyone who finds this story mildly entertaining, thank you. It was a beast to write and the only reason I stuck it out was because of you. I assure you I read every comment carefully, even if I'm too much of a lurker to reply.


	19. Chapter 19

"Sasuke!" Naruto screeched before crashing bodily into him. The blond boy had both arms wrapped around him in a tight vise, not trying to cut off his air supply but wrapped pointlessly around his shoulders and squeezing him. He shouted wordlessly directly in Sasuke's ear and threatened to knock them both over in his excitement. Something that might actually have been theoretically dangerous since Sasuke had just stepped off of one of the _moving_ staircases and it had already shifted away, leaving nothing but a gaping hole behind him. Which frankly, after his observations of the poor situational awareness and balance of the students at this school, he was surprised they did not have more of a problem with students falling to their deaths. But none of Harry's housemates had seemed concerned or alarmed by the stairs other than a handful of the brand new ones. It had not alarmed Sasuke either, merely confused him. What exactly was the function? The physics were probably fascinating but the school did not seem to use them for any of the defensive (or offensive) applications Sasuke could think of for having such a design. It almost seemed purely aesthetical. What a waste.

Naruto gave him another shake, impossibly tightening his grip even further. It was painful, but Sasuke's lungs weren't quite in danger yet and the idiot did not have the patience to wait it out long enough to be a threat.

"What," he demanded.

"I talked to a painting!"

"Great. Was it more intelligent than you?"

"Probably."

Sasuke snorted. Ridiculous. Honesty, it took half of the enjoyment out of it when the idiot not only set himself up for such comments but then did not even have the sense to be insulted by them. "Get off of me."

"No fun," Naruto muttered, but let him go so that he could go stand on the edge of the now empty stair connection and stare down before craning his neck awkwardly to look up and nearly unbalanced himself. "Where's Sakura?" he asked.

"Her house also has a tower, apparently." Which would mean a longer walk back. They had picked this spot as their meeting point for after they had received their tours of their separate Houses. Sasuke's Head of House had offered to escort him back to Team 7's separate dorm rooms on the main floor, but Sasuke had flatly refused. He did not need a guide like some child. The woman had been very insistent that he had to be in his room by a certain time and Sasuke had politely and sincerely lied to her face that he would head directly there. Despite what Naruto might say about Sasuke's social skills, authority figures still found it easy to take him at his word. Like hell was he going straight back. They had an entire facility to secure and far too much ground to cover with just one team. The sooner he was allowed to move about on his own the better.

"My house's really cool," Naruto continued to prattle. "I like 'em. Why don't we have houses?"

"We do. They're called bloodlines. See how well that worked out." Nin were competitive by nature. Having a village gave them something to rally around and unified them. Having smaller houses within a village had the opposite effect and merely fractured them further.

"Touché. How's Harry?"

"Fine." Nothing had happened in the time it took to walk him there. Sasuke had stayed long enough for a quick survey of the space. There was a distinct lack of entrances, which either spoke to good security in having a built in choke point in case of attack or it meant that there was an alternative hidden access point he would need to identify and secure. The sleeping quarters were riddled with windows unfortunately. But Sasuke had a solid enough idea of which direction the tower faced that he should be able to find Harry's without much trouble. They could do a more thorough inspection of the exterior and it's accessibility in the night. Securing the space was going to be difficult. Too many weaknesses, too many people in and out, too many possibilities. It was a problem he would have to think over. Maybe even ask Kakashi-sensei for some advice. The man ought to do something to earn his keep.

Naruto turned to look at him. "Did you talk to him?" he asked and it took Sasuke a moment to realize he meant Harry and not their team leader.

Sasuke frowned. "Why would I?" They were trying to maintain a cover. Plenty of the other students had been more than willing to provide him with a basic tour and information about the quarters. Sasuke had made his rounds quickly before excusing himself. So far, the dorm rooms seemed to be the most secure part of the castle and he was willing to let the arrangement stand until a better alternative could be found. There had been no reason for him to stay once Harry had darted up to his room. The boy would be safe enough for now as long as he stayed in his tower.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Maybe the guy wanted to talk?"

"Why?"

Naruto groaned. "I don't know, maybe 'cause he's your family and we're his friends and talkin' to the people who're important to you is nice? He seemed tense."

Sasuke scowled. "Why would he be tense? Do you think something is wrong?" It was possible that Sasuke had missed something. It would be grating to find out that he had missed something that Naruto had not, but it was not beyond the realm of possibility. Particularly when it came to things like feelings.

Naruto sighed as if his world was ending or someone had told him there was no ramen on Tuesdays. "You're hopeless," he announced.

The temptation to push him off the ledge was strong, but Sasuke did not want to have to listen to the bitching that would follow. Maybe once Sakura arrived and they were ready to leave... Naruto could catch up with them after he climbed his way back up.

"What are you students doing out here?"

Sasuke whipped around, a kunai slipping through his fingers and towards its target even as he sprang backwards to put some distance between himself and the threat he had not even _heard_ or sensed coming up behind them. There was not much space behind him to retreat back to, but he managed to snag the edge of a railing with one hand and hop up so he was crouched on its beam.

Naruto held his ground, far more accustomed to being the rock that others dashed themselves against than finding the higher – better – ground to win a fight from. It was not until the kunai went through their shadowy attacker, like a knife through fog, that Naruto started to look worried. "What the hell?" he demanded.

The kunai had slipped straight through, Sasuke's aim true, and had clattered uselessly against the far wall. If it was a clone, it should have dissipated after such a direct hit. But the colorless figure had not even wavered. He was dressed more like the people they had seen in the shopping district and not in the uniform of a student or even the more subdued, practical looking clothes they had seen on the teachers at the feast. Not a student, not a teacher, but clearly a wizard.

"Did you just throw a _knife_ at me?" the man shrieked.

An illusion? Some kind of more advanced shadow clone? Damn this no using the Sharringan rule. Sasuke was apt with genjutsus but it was frustrating to have to work the long way around a problem instead of just cutting to the heart of it. This was clearly not a real person. Real people weren't silvery grey in color, translucent and floating a couple of inches off of the ground. But then again, why build such a distraction when it was clearly so fake?

Whoever had made it had put a great deal of effort into the details of the appearance. It looked as if someone had both stabbed and burned the man, but there was no color to him and no flow of blood. But each piece of clothing was painstakingly rendered. Which only made it more confusing that someone would make such an elaborate illusion, only to spoil it. Why add such a violent looking wound but omit the dripping blood or the smell of burnt skin? Intimidation? Misdirection? The whole effect was oddly subdude for the specter of a dead man. Were they supposed to underestimate their opponent or be daunted by him? Knowing what the intent was behind the attack would give them a much better idea of how to respond.

Naruto made a strangled noise and Sasuke shifted enough attention to check on his comrade. Was this just a distraction and the real attack something that had slipped passed their defenses and was striking now? Naruto did not seem to be physically choking, but more in shock. The idiot did not even have a weapon out to defend himself with. Sasuke cursed under his breath and shifted to be ready to grab the moron if needed.

But Naruto was pointing at their assailant. "G-g-ghost!" he whimpered and Sasuke about near threw his next kunai at his fool of a teammate.

"There is no such-"

"Of course I am a ghost!" the thing scolded Naruto. "That does not give one the right to hurl weapons at me! This is an institution of learning! Not some barbarian's idea of a sporting event!"

"Aaaagggh!"

"Idiot!" Sasuke yelped before jumping down so that Naruto's cowering form was behind him. God help them if the rest of the Hidden Villages ever figured out that Konoha's mighty Jinnurik could be brought low by a simple ghost story or prank. How the idiot had survived this long, Sasuke wasn't sure, but once he took care of this problem he was going to beat the crap out of him. "Would you please try to focus?" he snapped. They needed to find the source and –

Naruto climbed on his back like some form of overgrown deranged monkey. "Keep it away!" he wailed.

"I am going to kill you," Sasuke told him as he stumbled forward to take both of their weight. "You are going to be the only ghost around here," he threatened.

The apparition complained just as loudly, as if it was trying to shout over Naruto's wails. "If you heathens cannot behave yourself then I will-"

"Oh, shut up," Sasuke hissed at it, bringing up a quick katon. He was done with this shadow play. If someone wanted to attack them, they ought to come out and do it.

"By Merlin!" the thing squealed before bending sideways and flowing out and away from Sasuke's attack. It moved like it was made of liquid but floated like fog. The substance but lack of mass was an interesting trick, one Sasuke would not have minded copying under different circumstances. It hovered now up by the rafters, glaring down at them and shaking its fist. "Never should have allowed foreigners into a place like this! See what comes of it! Terrorized in my own hallways! A danger to life and limb and property! Scandalous! Unacceptable! Heathens!"

"Oh my god, Oh my god," Naruto panted. "It's knows who we are!"

"Oh my god, why is something on fire?" Harry cried out before appearing in the hallway just as suddenly as the specter. His voice was sharp and loud but not nearly as alarmed sounding as Sasuke now was. Sasuke jerked hard, dislodging Naruto in one shrug of a moment before moving as quickly as he could across the space that divided him from his cousin. Naruto didn't fight him on it. He let Sasuke go to his cousin, releasing his clinging limpet hold even though he still looked ready to cower behind the nearest cover. At least his addled brain had enough sense to remember their priorities.

Harry wasn't even looking at the thing floating above their head, too busy shouting something at the burning rug. Water materialized effortlessly from his wand in a gushing stream and quickly soaked half of the hallway. There were shouts and complaints from the nearby paintings, but Harry had already explained to Sasuke that they were not real people and could not actually affect the outside world, so Sasuke ignored them as non-threats.

Harry looked up before Sasuke could reach him and scowled. Before Sasuke could rearrange their position so that he could take point, Harry shoved a bundle of fabric in his hands and started giving him orders. "Hold this. Do _not_ damage it. Don't set anything else on fire. Let me handle this, for the love of god," the last part was muttered as he turned away and called up to the ghost. "Sir Lawrence, I'm really very sorry about that. New students, you know? Sometimes the ghosts make them jumpy."

"Jumpy?" the thing yelled back. "That one threw a knife at me and then tried to burn me! Burn me! What age is this that a man is attacked with fire in his own home? What in Merlin's good name is the current administration is thinking allowing such ruffians and ill mannered savages into our fine school."

"Really, very sorry," Harry repeated. "I think you just frightened them. Let me, ah, get them out of your way, Sir, and leave you to, ah, do whatever it was you were doing."

"Should not be allowed out in decent company," the thing muttered even as Harry took a firm grip on Sasuke's elbow and yanked. Sasuke could have resisted it. They had already determined that while Harry had good reflexes and instincts, his formal grappling training was abysmal. But having Harry clinging on to his arm was almost as good as, if not better than, Sasuke grabbing the other boy and yanking him to safety. Harry would not fight back if he thought he was the one in control and Sasuke could still maintain close contact and even maneuver the two of them if necessary. Compromise. Sasuke was getting better at this every day. So he let Harry 'lead' him away, shifting so he had the bulk of his body between Harry and Sir Lawrence.

"Naruto!" Harry hissed. "Come on!"

Naruto just shook his head, not looking away from the ghost for even a moment. The thing was glaring back at him, wagging its finger and going on about inferiority and shame.

"The idiot's scared," Sasuke told him.

"Of ghosts? For real?" Harry complained. "I thought he was joking. Or like, he meant fake ghosts in movies or something." Harry sighed. "Come on, help me get him up." Sasuke was half tempted to leave the moron to face his fears. Maybe that would cure him. But Harry was not going to leave without him in tow and Sasuke had not yet one hundred percent confirmed that the thing _couldn't_ hurt Harry. It was easier to just cooperate, get a hand under Naruto's arm and yank him up and along. They went back down a hallway and kept moving until they were around the corner and out of sight.

"Naruto, calm down," Harry was saying, his voice much lower and calm now.

"It talked!"

"They all talk," Harry explained. "Or at least, most of them do. I know it's startling, but most of the ghosts have been here for generations. They won't hurt you. They're as much a part of Hogwarts as the stones or classes. Some of them are even actually quite nice. I'm friends with a couple. Or, well, sort of friends. I mean, most of them are kind of a depressing sort, but even Sir Lawrence isn't too bad. When you're not _throwing knives_ at him or trying to set him _on fire_." The last part was clearly directed at Sasuke and he raised an eyebrow in response to the glare he was receiving.

"If it is already dead, then I could not have hurt it," he replied drolly. It did make him feel a little better to know that was why his attacks had not worked. You could not kill something that was already dead. But it worried him, the possibility that something like that could be used against them – or even worse – have a mind of its own. What would such a thing want? What could it be convinced to do? How did you control it?

"He's just a grumpy old man, you didn't have to attack him. We're lucky it wasn't Peeves or one of the House ghosts."

"Oh, no," Naruto moaned. "They get worse?"

"No!" Harry exclaimed before glaring again at Sasuke as if it was his fault Naruto was being such a moron about this. "They're really not dangerous. Peeves is just annoying and would have gotten Mr. Finch and tried to get us in trouble. And the House ghosts would have had to report us to our Head of House. Students aren't supposed to be out after hours."

"And yet here you are," Sasuke pointed out, narrowing his eyes. "You _followed_ me." It was hard to imagine that his cousin could manage such a thing. Hard to imagine – and infuriating. Was Sasuke completely losing his ability to track his surroundings?

Harry rolled his eyes. "Didn't have much choice, did I? God, you're impossible to talk to sometimes."

"I am not."

Naruto snorted, then chuckled weakly. "Oh, hell, yes, you are. I'm so glad you're here, Harry!" Naruto hugged him enthusiastically, his good mood returning quickly. "You're our hero!"

"Argh!" Harry stumbled, but he was learning to put up with Naruto's enthusiasm. "It's all fine, really. But no more throwing knives or setting things on fire."

"Really? Because that rules out like half of what the teme can do."

"Why are we setting things on fire?" Sakura called out as she came around the corner. She was smiling as she asked, brushing off a bit of damp ash from her gloves that made it clear she had found their trail of destruction.

"Sakura!" Naruto cried happily. "It was horrible there was a – ghost!"

The last part was screamed, his voice embarrassingly high pitched as he scrambled backwards away from the thing floating alongside Sakura. It did not matter that there were still several yards between them. Sasuke sneered at the ridiculousness of a nin of Naruto's caliber being undone by an elaborate shadow clone – but Sasuke also did not take his eyes off of the new variable. This one seemed much more peaceful than the last one, watching them all silently. It was female this time, wearing a complicated looking dress instead of robes. She was the same pale washed out color as the other one, but she 'floated' more stately just above the floor, looking much more real just in her mannerisms.

Sakura rolled her eyes but she kept smiling. "Sorry about him," she told the ghost, talking to it like it was one of their clients. "He's easily excitable. The Grey Lady offered to walk with me. We've had a lovely little tour, though she doesn't speak. I think she's just curious."

"Can she be curious somewhere else?" Naruto groaned.

Apparently the thing could understand enough to be offended. She sniffed haughtily before drifting up and forward, straight through the ceiling, as gracefully as if she were ascending a flight of stairs.

"Oh, god, that's creepy."

"Don't be rude," Sakura scolded him. "It's good to have friends in different places."

Harry shrugged. "I've never heard anything bad about the Grey Lady, just that she's sad."

"Really?" Naruto asked, his curiosity finally getting the better of him. "Why?"

"Dunno. But there's not much you can do for a ghost. Just try to be nice when you see them. I've been told they're all here because they're too upset to leave, but most of them aren't angry or anything, just sad and frustrated and alone."

"That's," Naruto trailed off. "That's kind of awful."

"Yeah, I guess," Harry agreed. And he seemed to mean it, but there was something almost sly about the way he carefully kept his face turned away. "So try to be nice to them if you can, okay? Or at least not make it worse. I'd want people to be nice to me if I was like that."

Naruto shuddered at the very thought. "Yeah, yeah, okay. I can try. So creepy though. It can't, like, just happen to people though, can it? They can't make you ghosts too?"

"No," Harry said, and this time Sasuke was certain he was trying not to laugh. "It doesn't work like that."

"Oh. Okay, that's okay then. Harry! So good to see you again!" And it was like a light had been switched on. Naruto was all smiles again.

This time Harry did laugh. "I figured I better come check on you lot and make sure you weren't burning the place down. Good thing I did, too, or Sasuke might have given it his best effort."


	20. Chapter 20

"How did you find us?"

The question was innocent enough, but the look on Sasuke's face was the picture of disgruntlement.

Harry had to hide his own smile. Apparently he could still surprise him from time to time. It had been a while since that happened. They'd all been so shocked when they found out about magic (understandable), and even more upset about the whole Death Eaters and Voldemort thing (also understandable, he supposed not everyone had an evil Dark Lord trying to kill them), but things had sort of settled down after that. Things hadn't been boring. Harry was fairly sure none of them could ever have a boring life, but he had stopped being able to catch the nin off guard. He had to admit, it was sort of nice to be back on his home turf and the one showing them around for a change. Nothing was more brilliant than Hogwarts and magic, after all. Even if Naruto thought ghosts were scary.

"I've been sneaking around this castle for years," he told them. And he couldn't help it. He intentionally neglected to mention the invisibility cloak. Or his map. A guy had to have a little mystery about himself. And he kind of didn't want Sasuke to know that he could follow him so easily. Draped over his arm, the cloak didn't look like anything special and none of the nin looked twice at it. Harry wouldn't mind keeping it that way. Invisibility cloaks were useful for all kinds of things, but they were most useful when no one else knew you had one. And given how overprotective Sasuke could be, it was likely Harry was going to need the cloak.

Having to chase after him this evening was just further support for that. The other boy had left before Harry had even had a chance to talk to him! He had just gotten Ron and Hermione to come around to the idea that the nin needed their help and he had wanted to try getting Sasuke to talk with them more one on one so they could see that his cousin really cared. Thankfully, the map still worked on nin and it hadn't been hard to find the other boy.

Sasuke gave him a dark look even as Naruto laughed. "Not bad," Sakura commented, with a touch of humor in her voice. "It's not every day someone manages to follow Sasuke." Harry basked in the praise, though he had a feeling it was more meant to needle Sasuke than anything else.

"You should be more careful," Sasuke grumbled. "The security here is atrocious."

Harry laughed. "Hogwarts is supposed to be the safest place in Wizarding England."

Sasuke scowled.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, his smile turning rueful. "There's some definite weaknesses in that."

"No worries, Harry," Naruto told him. "We'll get that fixed up in a jiff."

Merlin knew the school could use the help. This was Harry's sixth year and he'd long ago lost count of the number of times he had almost died. But still. "Don't do anything drastic, okay?" he asked nervously. He'd seen just how far they were willing to go when they thought there was an unexpected threat.

Naruto smiled brightly and it made Harry nervous.

"Why aren't you staying in the dorms?" Harry asked. It was probably best to change the subject. He wouldn't feel as guilty about whatever mayhem they might wreck if he didn't know about it beforehand.

Sakura shrugged. "I don't think they wanted to be that responsible for us. Kakashi-sensei is still supposed to be our captain. I mean, Head of House."

Harry guessed that made sense. But still. "That's too bad. It would have been fun."

"We can still come hang out!" Naruto reassured him. "Besides, this'll make it easier for us to go sneakin' around and stuff."

"We don't want anyone tracking our movements too closely," Sakura explained in a much more reasonable and respectable manner. "And it will give us room to work out this magic problem away from prying eyes."

"You will not do anything stupid while we are separated. Will you?" Sasuke muttered. His tone was flat and his voice so low it was almost hard to hear him. It was clear he was trying to make the question as non-annoying as possible. Shame it was only partially effective.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I did manage up until now without you lot. I can handle myself in my own dorm, thanks."

"You were not hunted by what you are now," Sasuke had to add.

Harry gritted his teeth. And they were back around to that. Sasuke's ridiculous idea that Harry was somehow an invalid. He understood that this Itachi thing was very upsetting for Sasuke. Harry was upset about it too, and it didn't affect him nearly as much. But it still grated to be treated like a child by someone his own age.

"Oh, look, that's a funny looking moving painting person!" Naruto declared, grabbing Harry's shoulder and tugging him around to look at the painting of the lady with the squished-face dog. There wasn't anything terribly remarkable about it. The lady looked like any other old fashioned wizarding lady. The only thing of interest was the furry dog in her lap. Its face looked like it had run into a wall as a puppy and flattened out its snot. It growled menacingly at them as they passed, but it was a bit like being threatened by a stuffed animal.

"I thought I explained about the paintings."

"Sure, sure, just interestin'."

"Creepy," Sasuke muttered and Harry had to laugh, letting go of his earlier disgruntlement.

"A ghost you're not intimidated by, but moving artwork is beyond the pale!" Harry teased.

Naruto shuddered. "No more ghosts."

"Can I burn the paintings?" Sasuke countered, a sly smile blooming on his face as he gave Harry a look that Harry hoped meant the other boy was joking.

"No burning anything! No fire!"

"Well, there goes most of Uchiha's tricks," Kakashi-sensei drawled from behind them.

Harry yelped and spun around, one hand reaching for his wand but not quite drawing it.

Kakashi-sensei's eyes flicked down to where Harry had it in his pocket before the man hummed thoughtfully. "We'll have to work on that," he declared before clapping happily. "And how was your first foray into the castle, children?" He sort of sounded like he was asking if they enjoyed their day at the park but Harry also suspected he was hoping they _had_ set something on fire. Or attacked something. Or conquered a small army.

"Harry's dormitory will require extensive work," Sasuke declared.

"I might be able to trade information with my housemates for tutoring," Sakura added.

"Ghosts!" Naruto wailed.

"God help me," Harry groaned.

It was maybe the first time Harry had heard Kakashi-sensei laugh. Or at least, laugh what sounded like a real laugh and not something mocking, or sarcastic, or for show. His face was crinkled up happily as he led them to another painting, this one of an old man in a huge lace collar who had one hand on a globe and who merely raised an eyebrow at them as they approached.

"_Endevour_,"Kakashi told it and it swung open to reveal what looked much more like the front room of a house than a dormitory or the classrooms Harry was used to seeing at Hogwarts. In fact it sort of looked like a nicer version of the Weasley's house or maybe a much more cheerful, if slightly shabbier, version of Grimmauld Place. There was a sitting area on one side, with mustard yellow couches and arm chairs arranged around a bright blue carpet. There was a large table on the other side, with a bright green table cloth that matched the lampshades but clashed with the maroon colored curtains. The throw pillows were also red, but the brickwork for the fireplace had been painted blue. There was a green and silver ottaman, but gold upholstered dining room chairs.

It was perhaps the most colorful room Harry had ever seen. It reminded him of how wizards tended to look when they tried to dress like a muggle, as if all common sense or awareness of color coordination had left them. This room looked like someone very earnestly wanted to represent all of the Hogwarts houses and instead ended up with such a mess of colors that it looked like a rainbow had exploded everywhere.

"Home sweet home," Kakashi-sensei announced, waving graciously at the space. "All in all, I've stayed in worse places."

"It's not so bad," Harry tried. He hadn't noticed the patterns yet. There were patterns mixed in there. Stripes and polka dots and florals and what looked like some kind of repeating number pattern.

"My taste is questionable," Kakakashi replied in brutal honesty, "and even I know this is an eyesore."

"They mean well?" Harry tried. Because he'd been around wizards long enough to know by now that the more outlandish something was, the more it was meant to impress or show effort. Wizards weren't exactly known for their subtlety. Harry had always privately wondered if that was the _cause_ of the Statue of Secrecy or if it was a side effect of years of being isolated and cut off from the rest of humanity. People went a little crazy from that kind of thing, didn't they?

There were doors leading off every which way from the room. Ones on the right, the left and straight ahead. The others immediately started checking out each one but Harry contented himself with just a glance. Most of them looked like bedrooms, but some of them were either up or down a short flight of stairs. One was down and around the corner of a narrow hallway. Another one somehow had two doors from the main room leading to doors on different sides inside the room. It felt a little bit like being in a fun house and being all twisted around even though you knew each room had to fit together a certain way.

"Plenty of space to practice in," Kakashi-sensei commented idly. Or as idly as the man ever did anything. For a moment it was only the two of them standing in the main room while the others sniffed around as if they had to paint a mental picture of the entire place in their heads before they would feel comfortable. Harry wasn't surprised to see Sasuke poking his head into every cabinet and door that would open, but even Naruto was making it a point to look under and over things like he expected there to be something hidden there. Harry could have sworn Sakura was even measuring out how deep each room was, almost as if she was checking for something.

There was a clear space in the center that would give them some room, and if they moved both the table area and the sitting area over as much as they could, they could maybe manage some light dueling in here. Wizarding dueling, that was. Much less destructive to the environment than nin dueling. But none of that was going to do them a bit of good.

"We still haven't managed a single spell," Harry groaned. "Classes start tomorrow. No one's going to believe you're wizards!"

"But Harry! We're visiting foreigners! It's to be expected that there will be some differences in culture. Misunderstandings. Different practices. Maybe my students don't do magic if someone's watching them."

Harry snorted. "Pretty hard to do anything of any use then, isn't it?"

Kakashi-sensei smiled. "Depends on what kind of work you're doing and whether or not there should be any witnesses."

"We're doomed."

Kakashi-sensei pulled out his book and found a piece of furniture to lean against. "Ye of little faith. My students can handle it."

Harry shook his head. He had a lot of faith in Team 7. He'd been watching them practice and train all summer. He'd been at Sasuke's tender mercies as the other boy tried to show him how to properly throw a punch (as opposed, apparently, to what Harry had been doing his whole life) or how to cut someone or even how to use Chakra despite Harry's many failed attempts. Harry knew they were capable, just like he knew he was a good wizard even if he failed miserably at focusing any of his energy _out_. But they were no more going to pass for wizards than he could as a nin.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"Never stopped me before," Kakashi-sensei cheekily replied without hesitation. He pushed up to his feet and started for the door, nose still buried in one of the books he'd bought in Diagon Alley. "Come on, Harry-kun, I'll walk you back."

"That's okay, I can handle it from here."

"I don't think Sasuke-kun would like that much."

Harry rolled his eyes and stepped out the door, pulling out his cloak for the walk back. "This is my home. I can walk up a couple of flights just fine. It's you I'm more worried about. See you in class tomorrow, Professor Kakashi." As he had hoped, at the new title Kakashi-sensei flicked his eyes up just as Harry finished yanking the cloak over his head. It was maybe a bit petty, but he had to show he was at least capable of sneaking around on his own.

Kakashi-sensei nearly dropped his book when it happened and for a moment Harry could see one red eye looking at him. And then, just as suddenly as he had reacted, Kakashi-sensei slouched once more and everything was back to the way it had been. Except Harry was pretty sure that wasn't the page Kakashi-sensei had been on before and he kind of hoped he'd made the man lose his place in the book. "Always nice to see you, Harry-kun," Kakashi-sensei said as if nothing unusual had happened. As if Harry hadn't _finally_ caught the other man off guard. "No setting anything on fire. Try not to die. See you in class tomorrow."

Harry laughed. Yes, it was nice to know he could still surprise them every now and then. Even someone as frustrating and contrary as Kakashi. Harry was glad they were here and that he didn't have to spend the whole school year away from his new friends. Even if he knew with every ounce of experience in him that tomorrow was not going to be pretty.


	21. Chapter 21

AN: Double chapters! Because I forgot how stinkin' small this one was and should have posted it with last week's.

* * *

The rooms they had been given were sufficient. Sasuke did not appreciate how far away they were from Harry's dormitory, but they were in close proximity to the main door and it gave the team more freedom to move about without students noticing. There was, however, something distinctly unsettling about the bedrooms and it took Sasuke a distressingly long time to realize why. None of the connecting rooms were actually adjacent to one another. Instead they spread out like spokes on a wheel, each connected somehow to the center, either directly by a door or down a long corridor, but none of them were actually in close proximity to each other. There would be no going through the wall to get to a comrade's room if needed. It was a subtle detail, but they all felt the separation.

It was something they were going to have to get used to here. The easiest path between point A and point B might not even be connected or on the same level in this place. Things seemed to move or only be tenuously located in actual proximity to each other. It was not something visible so much as something they all felt in their gut. Sasuke was used to knowing instinctively how far he was from the ground, not just the floor under his feet but the actual earth. Enough to know exactly how hard of a blow it would take to break through the flooring and to the dirt below. Now it felt like he was always just a little bit higher than he thought, or somehow below ground without even realizing it. It was nausea inducing.

"My room is creepy," Naruto complained.

Sakura scoffed. "There's no ghosts in your room! Harry already talked to you about this, Naruto. You're going to have to deal with it."

"Yeah, but it still feels funny. Like the walls are going to collapse. Can we sleep somewhere else?"

"Who said we're sleeping?" Sasuke demanded.

"But I'm tired!" Naruto whined, drawing the last word out until it was almost unrecognizable.

"Suck it up," Kakashi-sensei ordered. He had called their group back into the main room once Harry had left. Apparently he felt confident that Sasuke's cousin could make it back on his own without too much risk. Sasuke kind of wished he had been consulted as part of that conversation, but it was a little late to go running after the other boy. And Kakashi-sensei obviously had plans for them. "We've got approximately 10 hours to build a map of this place. I want to know all points of egress. We need to identify spaces we can use to box in an opponent and which ones will trap us in retreat. By start of class tomorrow I want to have firm control over the spaces Harry may move through."

"What are we going to do about the classes?" Sakura pointed out. "We're not ready yet."

"You're nin. Deal with it."

And that was all of the advice Kakashi-sensei had to give to them. It was all Sasuke had expected, honestly. They just needed to stall for time. They had only had wands of their own for a couple of days now. With plenty of examples to observe, and with a more systematic exposure to the theory than Harry could provide, it should not take them long to work out how to use them. They just needed to buy themselves time.

Sasuke was more worried about the rat warren of hallways and classrooms and goddamn nooks this place seemed to be made out of. He had seen no less than a dozen possible murder holes just walking to and from Harry's dormitory. All castles had a certain level of protections built into them, but this place seemed to have been designed with a madman's collection of them, only to then have each and every one neglected or poorly repurposed into something else. It was almost worse than there being nothing at all.

They divided the space into quadrants and then subsections, or at least tried to. Ten hours seemed like a lot of time, but they'd already seen how much more complex the situation was than it appeared. It took six hours just for Sasuke to finish his first section. He was only halfway through his second when time started running out. With a curse he had to break off halfway through a hallway and dart back down to the main classroom areas. Sakura and Naruto were both due down on one of the lower levels, but Sasuke's was closer to the library. He had at least enough of a grasp of the building's layout to know how to get to a place without being lost. He could not shake the feeling, however, that there were quicker ways of crossing the distance. Short cuts he couldn't see. Secrets that might mean having the advantage. He just had to find them.

If only they did not have to attend _lessons_ like a bunch of pre-genin too foolish to manage on their own. The fact that they _were_ actually incompetent at magic only made it burn even worse.


	22. Chapter 22

For Harry, the first day of classes was usually the sign of life returning to normal. Normally, the pall of the previous summer would slowly fade away as he once more immersed himself in the magical world that was his real home. And in some ways, that was still true this year. There was something very comforting about waking up to the sound of his housemates stumbling about getting dressed. Their cursing and grumbling was a welcome change to Aunt Petunia's shrill commands. Here there was no one to bang on his door or yell at him. Instead there were friends who either ignored his groans or joined in with him. Here there was the comfort of a long hot shower and the relief of knowing that the clothes he wore today would look exactly like everyone else's clothes and no one would comment on how poorly something fit or that there were holes in it. It was the little things that made the morning so much better.

And his first class of the day was DADA. For once, he wouldn't have potions first thing in the morning. He'd still have to go, which was punishment enough, but at least he'd be wide awake and maybe better able to handle whatever Snape and the Slytherins threw his way. By some trick of fate, Harry had managed to sneak through his Potions O.W.L. enough to keep him in Potions classes. Apparently he wasn't as helpless in the subject as Snape proclaimed. It was hard to guess who was most surprised: Harry, Snape or Hermione. But at least two of them were happy. It had been a great surprise, but it was also dreadful. He desperately needed Potions if he wanted to be an Auror but it meant two more years with Snape, and somehow he had a feeling Snape was going to be even less pleased with the idea of still having Harry in his classes than even Harry was.

"Good summer?" one of the seventh year Ravenclaws asked him as they all shuffled into the Great Hall for breakfast. Friends from different houses were calling out to one another and catching up briefly before the rest of the day took them in different directions. It was a bit odd for Harry to be one of those people these days, but it seemed like every year his circle of friends and people he was friendly with grew bigger and bigger.

"Alright," Harry answered automatically, his voice carefully neutral and not interesting. Because that was what he was used to saying after coming back from the Dursley's. There normally wasn't anything else worth sharing. He usually didn't want to explain that his summers had been spent doing chores or sneaking around to get his school reading done. But this year had been a bit different, hadn't it? He smiled suddenly. "Pretty good actually." He didn't need to go into the grittier details but it was kind of nice to be able to brag a bit. "Did a bit of traveling. Got to go camping." And okay, Sasuke had described it as survival lessons, but Harry figured it counted.

"That's great. Say, are we still meeting for, you know, extra practice?"

It took Harry a moment, but then he laughed. "I think we can just call it DA now. No Umbridge."

"Thank Merlin for that. See you there then!"

Harry waved bye, turning slowly to Hermione. "I guess we're still doing DA club?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course we are. Our participation rates are going to be fantastic."

"Oh. That's good. I guess." He was going to get a lot of practice in this year if he was going to be leading DA and still working with Sasuke on magic and chakra. Between that and classes and Qudditch, there wasn't going to be a lot of time left for anything else.

Since Hermione liked to arrive for class early, and since it _was_ DADA and they were all a little curious about their new teacher, the three of them made quick work of their breakfast and headed out as soon as they could. DADA class was in the same room it always was even if the teacher kept changing on them. Except this year the desks had been rearranged so that half were on either side of the room, arranged in long rows set up to face each other with a one wide walkway running down the middle of it.

"Brilliant," Harry exclaimed quietly upon seeing the set up. When Ron glanced at him, he grinned and whispered. "Dueling." That was the only explanation for such an arrangement. Maybe they wouldn't need DA. Already it looked like this teacher knew what the hell he was doing and planned on really teaching them. Though if the class really was going to be that hands on, then maybe they'd need the practice even more, and hopefully there'd be less essay writing to waste their time. Poor Hermione in that case, she'd be heartbroken.

"Come on in and find a spot," the new professor rumbled as he came walking by. "Don't block the doorway," he grumbled. It wasn't the friendliest of greetings but the three of them were happy to quickly claim three seats in the middle. On the other side of the room a knot of Slytherins had picked out seats and both groups eyed each other silently across the distance. Harry hadn't realized this would be a joint class with the Slytherins. That could make dueling more…interesting. Malfoy wasn't there yet and Harry felt his gut clench up and his attention focus in the way it did when he was trying to catch the snitch. Well, he had wanted practical experience. There wouldn't be anything more practical than dueling with Malfoy. Because with Harry's luck, there was no way he'd be fighting against anyone else.

The room slowly filled up and Harry tried to distract himself with going over DA plans with Hermione instead of looking around nervously waiting for Malfoy or Sasuke to arrive. Sasuke hadn't been at breakfast but he was supposed to be in all of their classes.

"Settle down!" the teacher barked as the time to start drew closer. He had his desk positioned at the head of the walkway on the far side from the door and he leaned against it now, impatiently tapping his wand against his leg and watching the floating clock. Dumbledore said the man had been an Auror but he didn't look much like one. He was round in the middle the way some of Uncle Veron's work colleagues were (but of course nowhere near the rotundness that was Vernon and Dudley). His hair was grey and thin and combed over and he didn't seem to have any eyebrows any more they were so pale and thin. He didn't look like he moved very fast and the annoyed expression on his face didn't bode well for them. But Harry knew well that a pleasant smiling face, like the ones Lockheart and Umbridge had had, could be just as unpleasant in actuality.

All of the seats seemed to be full, but the professor seemed to still be waiting for something. At the last moment, the door cracked open and Sasuke slipped in. He didn't look rushed and didn't seem to care that the entire room turned to look at him. He didn't even flinch at having to get around half the class to claim the last free seat on what had become the Gryffindor side. He passed Harry's seat without comment or any greeting and Harry had to stop himself from reacting.

Professor Northstein flicked his wand and the door slammed shut. "Now that we can start," he drawled. "I am Professor Northstein. This is the Sixth level DADA class so I expect you lot to be able to tell one end of your wand from the other. As I understand it, your education up till this point has been haphazard at best. Our approach will be more systematic. I do not expect all of you to meet the standards I would expect out of a group of fresh Auror trainees, but you will be graded on your progress. There will be no show-boating in my class. You will limit yourself to the spells and task at hand. Any outside work or spells not covered by our syllabus will not be permitted during practicals."

Hermione's hand shot up. The interruption seemed to confuse Northstein for a moment before he waved his hand for her to hurry up. Hermione didn't waste any time. "Practicals, sir?" she asked.

The man scowled. "Well, you don't expect to quote the material at a dark creature, do you, miss?"

After last year, it was hard not to feel a thrill of excitement at that. Hermione flushed though, as the Slytherins tittered, and Harry supposed it was a little unfair. Hermione had probably known full well what the Professor meant but she liked to confirm things. And it might have been Harry who led DA last year, but it would always be her idea. No one who really knew her could accuse her of not wanting to do a few practicals. She just _also_ wanted to write 14 inches about it as well.

Northstein flicked his wand at the board behind him and a stream of information started to scrawl across it. Hermione started writing it all down while everyone else read through it. "There will be reading examinations," Northstein explained. "Do not fail to be prepared. Writing assignments will be due every other week and will cover _both_ the material in the book and the material discussed in class. Failure to include both will result in lost points. This is your syllabus," he said as pieces of paper flew off of his desk and to each student. It was the kind of casual magic that had astounded Harry during his first years. Now, having seen just how much the spell was used by the Ministry for boring paperwork tasks, it had lost some of its impressiveness. The paper that slipped onto his desk was covered in small print, most of it one long list of what he realized were spells that ranged from the most basic hex to the Patronus Charm at the very bottom.

"These are the spells you will be expected to know by the end of this semester. While in this room, you will only use these spells. Anyone caught using something else will either lose points, receive detention or worse. Most of these are basic and I expect you to already know them. We will work on your execution and application, as well as filling whatever sizable gaps there may be in your education."

"Well, we know what to focus on for DA," Harry muttered. The three of them had their heads bent over the list, going down each item. A few were unfamiliar to Harry but he'd bet they'd covered at least half of the list in DA already. So maybe they hadn't done too badly in picking out what to study last year. It had been hard without some kind of structure to follow. Maybe he could even get his hands on a copy of the seventh year list and see what was covered there.

"First up!" Northstin bellowed. Everyone jumped slightly and stared at him in confusion. He gestured impatiently before pointing at Jordan Lee sitting on the very end and the Slytherin girl sitting across from him. "In the center, wands at the ready and demonstrated the first spell." Both of them scrambled out of their seats and there was some confusion as they both tried to stand at the same end. Northstein shoved Lee towards the far side and he had to hurry to get down far enough before a spell came zinging at him. Harry immediately looked straight ahead. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they were probably going to go down the line. Crabb stared back him blankly, looking confused about why everyone was suddenly now focused on who was sitting across from them, as everyone (or almost everyone) had the exact same thought as Harry. Not so bad. The day Harry couldn't dance circles around Crabb in a duel was the day he gave up Quidditch. But while the person on Crabb's left was another one of the Syltherin girls and probably not too bad of an opponent for Ron, Draco was on Crabb's right and lined up with Hermione.

Well damn.

They moved through the spells quickly. The beginning of the list was simple hexes and charms common in duels. Some of them they had even learned in first and second year. Only a few were less familiar. There wasn't much time to prepare as Northstein had the next student hopping out of their seat almost as soon as the current pair up managed a solid representation. Harry had a basic blasting hex. No problem. But Hermione had _Impedimenta_. It was a bit complicated to land right but at least it was relatively painless if you got hit by the other party. Still, this was Malfoy. "Don't let him catch you off balance. I've seen people fall bad from that," Harry whispered to her frantically as she was pushing herself up. She nodded grimly and headed down the line with the best look of single minded focus she could manage. Hermione had great accuracy, but Draco was fast. She was only going to have one chance.

Draco didn't wait for her to finish clearing the last desk. It sure as hell wasn't sporting, but it was also reckless on his part. Overeager. The students' desks were solid wood and had withstood so many spells over the years that they were probably immune to even the worst curses. Hermione yelped but kept moving. She knew a sitting target was a dead one and she scrambled to the far side of the aisle, not hesitating to crowd up by the Slytherin side. Harry was actually a little surprised to see Draco hesitate to fling a curse that close to his housemates. The look of focused fury on his face was maybe one of the worst Harry had seen from the other boy and it reminded him of their most bitter arguments. Draco wasn't pulling his punches this year. It was the first day of classes and he was already out of blood.

Hermione was smart though and used his hesitation to get her own curse in. Draco managed to deflect it, however, and this time didn't hesitate to fling the same one back at her strong enough to knock her off her feet. Harry jumped to his feet but there were four students and their desks between him and her. Dodging like that had been the only option, and using the Slytherins as a screen was a good idea, but it meant that there was no one to help her when she went down. Malfoy raised his wand again but Northstein was barking at the next pair to take their places and shoved Malfoy along. "Yes, yes, well done," he muttered. "Next person's turn. Back to your seats." Northstein canceled out the spell and waited only long enough for Hermione to stumble her way back behind the desks before waving on the next set.

Harry snapped out the spell as soon as his feet hit the deck. He didn't wait to check to make sure it had worked, he could hear enough to know that Crabb had gone down like a bag of bricks. He grabbed Hermione's arm and helped her back to her seat, passing Ron on the way.

"I'm fine," she whispered. "Just my pride."

Ron came back with a numb hand but at least he'd kept his feet under him. The Slytherin girl had been better than he had expected and he was scowling. One look at Hermione, however, had his attention focused more on cursing about Malfoy than worrying about his own less than spectacular performance.

And then it was Sasuke's turn. _Calcifer _wasn't exclusively a dueling spell. It was also used for burning paper or certain potion preparations. It made a small controlled flame, heatless but effective against non-living things. The irony of Sasuke having a fire spell was not lost on Harry. The fact that Northstein was watching them all closely and wouldn't allow anything not on the syllabus meant that there was little hope of Sasuke sneaking in his own offense. Harry gritted his teeth. The flame wouldn't hurt him. Harry knew that, he'd seen it used before and it was more of a distraction technique than a full attack.

Sasuke took his time walking down and eyed the Slytherin across from him like he was thinking about stabbing him. Which was generally how Sasuke's face looked, but no one else knew that. Zabini hesitated, however, caught off guard and uncertain. If it had been anyone else down there, that would have been enough to win the duel. But Sasuke didn't move. He couldn't cast the spell. He hadn't been able to cast any spells, and _Calcifer _required even more focus than normal. Too much and you could start a real fire. Too little and it wouldn't even catch.

Watching Sasuke stand there and wait for the other boy to finally stutter out the spell was painful. Sasuke didn't even flinch however. He raised his wand as if to ward off the spell but no incantation passed his lips. The fire caught on Sasuke's shoulder spread quickly to his sleeve. Even knowing that the flame wouldn't burn flesh wouldn't have been enough to stop Harry from flinching away from a fire that close to his face. But Sasuke stared at it like he was more interested in studying the after-affects than learning the spell. He patted it out calmly when it started to damage his robes.

"Do make some effort," Northstein ordered. "Again!"

Zabini had already turned away, grinning at his housemates, pleased with his performance even if it had had a rocky start. He jerked to a stop, however, at the Professor's command. "Sir?" he asked. No one else had been asked to do a spell twice if they'd managed a successful hit.

"That was pathetic," Northstein explained. "Again. Mr. Uchiha, a bit more effort on your part, if it would not be too much to expect. I won't have coasting in my class. A thing like that will get you killed in the real world. Again."

Harry grimaced. He couldn't really argue with the Professor's impression. It had been pretty pathetic and it certainly looked like Sasuke wasn't really trying at all. No one else had seen Sasuke burn down half a field in one deep breath. It would be so easy, but it wouldn't be _magic_ and they hadn't figured out how to fake it yet.

"So sorry I'm late!" a cheerful voice interrupted as the classroom door slammed loudly against the wall. Kakashi-sensei, or rather, Professor Kakashi paused dramatically in the doorway. He was sloppily wearing dark blue robes but Harry didn't doubt for a second that he had his normal nin attire on underneath. He'd never seen the man without his armor and tools. And the more Kakashi acted like he didn't have a care in the world the more paranoid Harry felt.

In the silence of the room, Sasuke's sigh sounded particularly loud. For a moment, his eyes locked on Harry and Harry imagined he could almost hear the expletives Sasuke wanted to call the man.

"This is a class, Hatake," Northstein barked. He started for the door, impatiently waving Blaise back to his seat and shooing Sasuke out of his way. "It starts at a specific time and is conducted according to schedule. Failure to do so is not only disrespectful to everyone involved but also prevents the group from accomplishing the task on hand." The professor came to a stop in front of Kakashi and crossed his arms over his chest, wand once more bouncing in his hand like the angry swish of a cat's tail. "I will speak with you afterwards." It was a clear dismissal.

Kakashi grinned. "Great. Looking forward to it. That should make up for you ignoring me all morning. I'll just be over here then, doing my job." It wasn't hard for Kakashi-sensei to sidestep the man. Harry had expected him to come join the Gryffindor side, maybe check in with Sasuke, but Kakashi instead honed in on the Slytherins, waving at all of them and moving to lurk behind them, bending his tall frame over their shoulders to look at the lists on their desks as if he expected to find something different on each one. Even after seeing that the first two were identical, he didn't stop making his way down the line, theatrically and obnoxiously inspecting each one.

Northstein's face was red when he turned around and his wand was no longer bouncing but instead clenched tightly in one fist. He turned his glare from Kakashi to the rest of the classroom. "Well? Move along!" he ordered. The next set of students hopped to their feet.

Class managed to both drag by and fly by quicker than they could keep up with it. Harry didn't have time to worry about Sasuke or Kakashi-sensei or how they would fare in their first class. If Northstein kept to the same pattern then Hermione would be going up against Malfoy again, and this time it would be a more advanced spell. A stinging hex. It wasn't one they commonly ran into, generally considered a bit too vicious for school yard duels and prone to causing tremors afterwards. Nothing permanent, but it would be enough that Hermione would be feeling it the rest of the day if she couldn't outdo Malfoy.

"I know, I know," Hermione grumbled as both Harry and Ron tried to offer advice on how to get the first hit in.

Harry hadn't given much thought to the fact that Sasuke's addition to the Gryffindor side left their class size uneven. He was so used to the houses seeming to always be perfectly matched, he hadn't thought about what they would do when they got to the end of the Slytherin line and still had one more Gryffindor to go.

"Mr. Hatake!" Northstein suddenly called out. He had waved the Slytherin girl who was at the front of their line back into her seat. She has already started to move into position, clearly assuming that Northstein would just start at the head of the Slytherin line when it became clear that they were one short. But it appeared Northstein had another plan. "You are here to assist, are you not? Well, then, I'm sure you can manage to give Miss Brown a hand.

"Not fair," someone grumbled on the Gryffindor side. Teacher's didn't normally duel against students. And normally Harry would have agreed (having dueled a couple of teachers himself) but he also knew, and knew Northstein knew, that this duel was going to be unevenly matched in the opposite way. Why the other teacher would do such a thing, Harry couldn't imagine. Sure, he seemed annoyed with Kakashi-sensei. A lot of people frequently were. But that seemed like an odd reason to put him in such a bad situation. Surely the Headmaster had explained. Right?

Kakashi-sensei smiled serenely when he stepped forward. He muttered something to Northstein as he passed the man, something quite enough that no one else seemed to hear it, but the older man's face went tight again as if he'd smelled something unpleasant. Kakashi never lost his pleasant look and he made a show of bowing to Lavender. That set off some giggling in the class and had Northstein demanded silence. Kakashi-sensei twirled the pale white wand in his hand as if it were merely more showmanship. It was as if he had heard Northstein's stern opening speech about no showing off and was intentionally mocking it. Knowing Kakashi-sensei, it was entirely possible. It was also just as likely that the man was just naturally annoying.

"Come now, Miss Brown, show me how it's done!" Kakashi-sensei crowed. "I won't even dodge!"

Lavender laughed and that seemed to be exactly the reaction Kakashi-sensei was going for. She took her time lining up the spell. It was one Harry knew she was familiar with, but now that Kakashi-sensei had seemed to encourage her to go slow, she seemed to want to make it perfect. It was a variation of the _Confundus _charm. Efficient and hardly the worst thing Kakashi-sensei could get hit with. Demeaning, maybe, but as far as hexes and curses went, it was very mild.

True to his word, Kakashi-sensei didn't try to avoid it. He even held his arms out loosely at his side, not even pretending to use his wand. The spell hit him full on. It wasn't as flashy as some of the others. The point was more to create an opening for a more effective second spell. But instead of just looking lost and sleepy, Kakashi-sensei pin wheeled his arms dramatically and fell flat on his back with a thud that seemed to shake the floor.

Lavender gasped and looked moments away from fainting dead away herself.

Suddenly one of Kakashi-sensei's hands shot into the air and he waved it around like his wrist was some kind of ball joint and the wand only loosely attached. The man giggled.

Harry dropped his head into his hands and despaired. A giggling Kakashi-sensei was perhaps _the_ most disturbing form of Kakashi-sensei. Apparently Professor Northstein agreed because he came stomping over, casting a counter charm and complaining loudly about disruptions, unruliness and poor form.

Kakashi-sensei stumbled back to his feet, looking more drunk than confounded and Harry had to wonder how much of it was an act and how much of it was real. He hadn't really tried casting spells on the nin. Other than the few Harry had used to defend himself the night Sasuke's house was attacked, they hadn't tested what the reaction would be between magic and chakra. He hoped the man was okay.

"He's not very impressive," Ron muttered.

"He's awful," Harry agreed even though he knew they were having two very different conversations. Ron probably saw yet another failed teacher. Harry saw one of the scariest people he'd ever met acting like a buffoon.

"Go stand over there," Northstein ordered the man. "And try to stay out of the way, for Merlin's sake. I don't need you bollocksing things up."

It was probably the first time Harry had ever heard a teacher use that kind of language but he couldn't really appreciate it. The Slytherines were not bothering to hide the fact that they were laughing at Kakashi-sensei and making fun of him. Even some of the Gryffindors were muttering to each other about rubbish teachers. Which wasn't fair. Kakashi-sensei might be a weirdo and annoying, but Harry knew he was great nin.

There wasn't time to worry about that, however, as Jordan was back up and it wouldn't be long before it was their turn again. Hermione managed to hold her own the next time around, the trickery bit of spellwork was harder for Malfoy to fire off and Hermione's attention to detail gave her the edge. The second time around they both got off good shots, but the electric shock only caused Hermione's hair to curl a bit more. The Slytherine girls laughed uproariously about that but Hermione managed to shrug it off with gritted teeth. "It's not like it was straight before," she muttered and Harry squeezed her shoulder in encouragement.

They managed to get through the first half of the list before students started running into spells they couldn't cast. Things slowed down after that as Northstein asked for volunteers before moving on to the next spell. When it came time for the Patronus Charm, he ended up having two Gryffindors face off since they were the only ones to raise their hands. Harry was proud that nearly all of his housemates were willing to give it a try.

"Chapters one and two by the start of next week!" Northstein demanded as class broke up. Which seemed like an awful lot of reading for the first week and Harry hoped it wouldn't always be that much.

Hermione looked worn out by the end of class, but she was in one piece. Malfoy looked even more enraged than he had at the beginning of class and Harry was tempted to hex him on the way out and claim it was an accident. But he hadn't gotten much further than gathering up his own stuff before Northstein was calling his name. "A word!" he ordered, waiting for Harry to come up to the front of the class. Hermione and Ron immediately started fumbling about with their own things but it was the quick startled look Sasuke gave him that had Harry shaking his head and waving his friends on. If they hovered nervously then Sasuke would think something was wrong and freak. Better for them to go on without him. Technically, there wasn't any reason to suspect the worst and even if there was, there wasn't much they could do about it.

"Yes, sir?" he asked carefully.

Professor Northstein finished what he was doing and turned to face Harry. Up close the man was a bit more intimidating. Maybe twenty years ago he had been more like what Harry thought an Auror should be like, and standing this close to him it was easier to see the shadow of what the man must have been like. His hands were big and calloused and he stood with his feet shoulder width apart, the way Harry was used to seeing Quidditch players stand when taking pictures. It made him look bigger.

"Mr. Potter, I've heard mixed things about you from your previous teachers."

Harry wasn't sure exactly what that was supposed to mean, but he had some idea what some of the bad parts might be. "Yes, sir?"

The man snorted. "Don't look like I'm going to ream you out, Mr. Potter. You're not being disciplined. The Headmaster mentioned that you helped organize an extracurricular practice group."

"Ah, yes, sir. Though we, um, never actually had official permission. It's – more of a study group?" That was maybe something Harry should have checked on. He had sort of assumed it would continue quietly as a student run thing, conveniently ignored by all of the adults and left to their own devices. For the new DADA teacher to already know about it and start digging around about the topic made Harry very nervous. They weren't going to stop, not as long as the others wanted to keep meeting, but he really didn't want to already cause trouble with one of his professors – at least not until he had good reason to. Class had been a bit rough, with Hermione having the bad luck of facing Malfoy over and over again and Sasuke's own repeated failures, but it hadn't actually been that horrible of a class. Harry felt like he'd gotten some good practice in, even. It would be kind of nice to have a half-way decent instruction for once.

Professor Northstein snorted. "Relax, Mr. Potter. You're not in trouble. It's surprisingly good initiative for someone your age. You'd be surprised how many Auror trainees we'd get who'd never worked outside of a classroom."

"You used to train Aurors?" Harry asked excitedly. McGonagol had given him some brochures on the issue, but most of what they talked about was what you had to do to get into the training program. Not about what came afterward.

"Been a few years, but I did my time." The man stared at Harry for a moment. "Thinking of applying are we?" he finally asked.

Harry nodded, trying to look respectful and calm about it.

"Guess that should be expected. We'll see what your grades look like, Mr. Potter. In the meantime, I don't want you lot getting overly ambitious and maiming someone in the process."

"We wouldn't-"

"You have a med-wizard on hand then?" the man cut him off gruffly.

"No, but-"

"And who's spotting these practice duels, hm? Who's on hand to undo anything that goes awry?"

"Well, I try-"

"One half trained wizard for a group of how many?"

This was not going well. "It's not just me. There's a group of us and we all help each other out depending on what your strengths are. And I don't know how many." Sure, he had an idea based on last year's numbers and a couple of maybes that would likely join this year now that there wasn't the threat of expulsion hanging over their heads. There'd been a number of people who probably would have benefited from it but that hadn't been trustworthy enough to approach last year. But maybe now they could, since the group sort of kind of had permission to meet. Or at least weren't outright forbidden.

Professor Northstein snorted. "I stand corrected. A collection of half trained wizards. Find a teacher, Mr. Potter. I don't care which one."

"But-"

"That was an order, Potter, not a suggestion. Figure something out. Dismissed."

A teacher? Harry cringed but tried to keep it off his face. They didn't have the best track record with teachers. He could maybe ask McGonagol, but that was really going to put a damper on things. Harry didn't really know the other teachers all that well. Except for Kakashi.

Harry grinned. "Alright," he agreed. He could make this work if it meant keeping the club going.

Professor Northstein had started to turn away, but he paused and looked back. "You have someone in mind?"

Harry shrugged and tried to look both confident but also like he didn't already know the answer. "I thought I'd try asking the new exchange Professor. He seemed like he might be interested."

Northstein jerked back in surprise before frowning so heavily it was like his eyebrows swallowed up half of his face. "Absolutely not."

Harry flinched back in surprise himself. The man sounded livid at the very idea. He'd been a bit curt through all of class but not angry like this. "Why not?" Harry challenged, maybe not keeping the indignation out of his voice as much as he should have. Sure, Kakashi-sensei had looked a bit silly today, but he definitely knew a thing or two about surviving a fight.

"He doesn't qualify."

"But isn't he helping you this year?"

"Clearly not," Northstein snapped. "Mr. Hatake is not an acceptable option. Find someone else. That's an order, Potter. Dismissed."


	23. Chapter 23

There was something about this place that left Sasuke constantly feeling like he was just short of understanding what was really happening and Sasuke hated it.

But Harry loved it here.

That was a bit hard to wrap his head around, but it was clear from the moment they had entered the school that Harry considered this his territory. His preferred grounds. It was there in the subtle things. Not just a familiarity with the space, but an instinct for it. Half of this damned castle liked to move around, and Harry seemed to move along with it as if he _expected_ these changes. Enjoyed them even.

It was peculiar. Harry had seemed to take a great deal of delight in most of what Kohona had to offer. Even the more mundane things like target practice and dumpling shops had captured his attention and curiosity. But watching him here, now, it was clear that there was a distinct difference between when Harry felt like he was an outsider and when he did not. Harry did not hesitate about anything here. He did not look to his wizarding friends the way he had constantly kept glancing at Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura when they had been out places in Konoha. Instead they looked at him, just slightly, barely even noticeable, but they waited to see what direction he would go in before they made their own choice.

Harry had managed to make it to class in one piece and did not appear to have suffered any kind of trauma in the night. That was good. Sasuke had not truly believed that the other boy would be in danger (he would not have agreed to splitting up if that was the case). But it was still a relief to confirm that nothing untoward had happened during the short time the other boy had been out of his sight. So far, nothing about this place had made Sasuke comfortable about trusting it with the safety of his family.

Watching Harry battle plan in the middle of class was...enlightening.

Sasuke had not bothered looking at the list he had been given. The translation jutsu had its limitations and the written word was always going to be a struggle. But even reading it would not do him much good. He knew he would know nothing in front of him. That was a distinctly unique feeling for him, but he was a nin. He knew how to focus on what he could and could not do. Watching the other students told him far more about how this magic thing was supposed to work. It would not necessarily do anything to improve his own ability, but at least it might expand his understanding.

Harry skimmed through the list with something bordering delight. It was not until it became clear who each of their opponents would be that Harry's expression changed. It was a look Sasuke had seen a time or two on Naruto's face. That should have worried him more than it did. But he managed to keep his calm and trust that his cousin was not about to declare all out war in the middle of the classroom. Maybe he was getting better at the not hovering thing. Harry did not look scared, after all, just _focused_. Sasuke could afford to hold back in this case. He was fairly confident of that. It was a classroom. A controlled setting. And Sasuke would be on hand if anything did get out of control.

But Harry managed to get through class without a scratch.

Without even coming close to one.

It did not take an expert to figure out that Harry's assigned opponent for the class was a lumbering idiot. No one seemed surprised to see the other boy fail time and time again. Though it was possible that not all of that was because the boy was inferior.

Apparently, Harry was quite good at magic. Far better than Sasuke had realized without having a comparison to judge him by.

Sasuke did his best to watch not just his cousin's movements but also how the rest of the children responded. Harry never hesitated in the task assigned to him. He seemed to know most of the spells already. And most of his classmates didn't seem surprised by that. It was not that Sasuke had expected Harry to fail or thought he was substandard in any way. He just had not realized that compared to his cohorts, Harry was certainly in the top of his class. Maybe even more than that.

It suggested things about Harry that Sasuke had not really considered before. About his future and his capabilities.

Granted, this kind of fighting would not last a minute in a real arena. Sasuke could have killed all of them before they'd gotten much further than their first attempt. They all seemed to insist on waiting to take a formal position before attacking. And each attack was more of a display than an assault. They clearly had no concept of focus or intent. Sasuke had had more killer instinct in some of his entry level Academy sessions than these nearly grown wizards had. Even Harry hesitated for some reason. As if he thought it made it better to give the other boy a chance to fumble at the incantation before quickly finishing the match.

The only exception was Malfoy.

Now there was one looking to kill somebody. Sasuke did not care what Harry thought. Sasuke had a much better understanding of that kind of fire in your bones than Harry did. If Harry had been the one going up against him over and over again, Sasuke might have had to handle the problem directly. Nothing maiming, but just enough to take care of the issue. But since that was not the case, and since Harry's little friend did not seem to be in immediate risk of death, Sasuke did not need to worry about it.

He only had to focus on his own spectacular failure.

They had known going in that this was not going to be graceful. They were not going to be presented as the elite nin that they were. With a little luck, once they figure out a work around to combine spells and chakra, they would be able to tailor it to their needs. Show these wizards how to really do something instead of half-hearted attempts and showmanship. It was just, for now, they were going to have to gracefully fall on their swords.

Or not so gracefully fall on their asses.

The first time was the easiest. Harry had shown them a number of spells of course, but he had always balked at casting them at them directly. The school boy who took up his position across from Sasuke did not have the same compunctions. He took great pleasure in getting off the first shot. That had grated, but there was something fascinating about seeing magic at work. So similar to chakra, it was like something he could feel on the edges of his awareness, but always only as if trying to understand a muffled conversation through a thick wall. Or the color of a shape he could only see the outline of. The cold fire had been fascinating. Almost sentient. Useless in most respects, but interesting. Focusing on his curiosity was preferable than dwelling on the blow to his ego this class was going to be.

The next round and the round after that and the round after that were increasingly worse.

Sasuke knew how to take a hit, damn it. He knew how to fake a weakness to lure an opponent into a false sense of security. What he was not well versed in was in maintaining that illusion over time. Or with letting civilians walk all over him. He was not accustomed to the charade of weakness actually being the truth.

It did not take long for the whispering and not quite so subtle comments to start.

"I think he's frightened. Think he'll go crying home about it tonight?"

"Careful! You might break him."

"Maybe the Professor should talk real slow for him. Think he'd understand then that he's supposed to fight back?"

"Mongrels. Not much better than a mudblood."

Even the Professor had his own commentary.

"If whatever…institution…you previously attended could not even manage to cover the basics, then perhaps it would be best to reconsider your class placement now. I'm sure it would be understandable that you would need to move down a grade level coming from such a…different standard."

Sasuke was not a fool. He could read the subtext of that all too well. Incompetent. Inferior. Backwards. Foreign.

It was not a prejudice many nin had to worry about. The only thing most nin cared about were what your allegiances were and your capabilities. One's abilities tended to speak louder than any form of inherent difference. Even philosophical differences paled before the standard of what you could or could not do. Only a few villages gave a damn about superficial things like that. Most of those ones had self-imploded like Mist. Sasuke had certainly heard worse said about the Uchiha line, and at least some of that had been true.

It should have been easier to ignore the derision. Sasuke at least knew that there was more to the situation than these children realized. That there was more to him. And that their mockery was a result of their ignorance not his. But for some reason it still grated.

At least none of it was loud enough for Harry to hear on the other side of the room. His cousin had his hands full trying to help his friend manage her own problems. He certainly did not need to try coming to Sasuke's defense, and Sasuke had learned enough about the other boy to know he would try without hesitation if he thought it needed.

And maybe he would rather not have Harry hear just how much of an embarrassment Sasuke currently was.

…though nothing was more embarrassing than Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke had _maybe _been a little bit grateful when the man had timed his own arrival so that it drew all of the Professor's attention away from Sasuke's inability to do even the most basic of tasks. He could even, objectively, appreciate that Kakashi's continued shenanigans meant that the Professor was much more focused on censuring him than drawing attention to Sasuke's continued inability and failure to blend in properly. But none of that made up for having to publicly be connected to the man when he eventually fell back on his favorite method of pissing people off – reading trash in public.

Professor Northstein actually _burned_ the book. That was somewhat entertaining. Kakashi-sensei looked about a moment away from shoving a senbon in the man's eye. But the man was a trained nin and merely smiled in a way that made it clear the only reason Kakashi refrained from killing the man was that they had clear mission parameters not to.


	24. Chapter 24

Sakura managed to make it through her first class with very little disruption. Harry had complained frequently and at great length about his Potions class and how difficult it was, but for a nin trying to pass as a wizard, potions was about as easy as it could get. Tonics were not frequently used by nin – too difficult to carry and generally not as effective as direct chakra intervention – but they did have their use, particularly in the hospital. In fact, preparing and stocking the variety of medications kept on hand was one of the first jobs apprentice medic nins received. Assuming a combat nin managed to survive a poison long enough to return to the village – a very big if there – it was the responsibility of everyone on the medical staff to be able to quickly and correctly identify the malady and its treatment. So really, Potions were a natural fit.

Granted, she wasn't able to use her wand to generate heat or to stir the mixture without touching it. But Sakura had perhaps the most developed fine chakra control of her age group. The day she couldn't manage a little bit of elemental manipulation was the day she turned in her medic title. She waved her wand about the same way the others did, but she kept her free hand near the base of the vessel and pushed just enough chakra out to approximate the effect she needed. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough to let her slip by unnoticed.

Right up until her potion turned a rather alarming shade of magenta and then popped.

From an observational standpoint, the pop was rather interesting. What had previously been a vicious, slightly lumpy, opaque mixture colored the same shade as dirt with swirls of gold through it, suddenly brightened into a candy shade of pink, formed a tacky looking top layer, before exploding outward like a piece of popped bubble gum, leaving nothing behind in the cauldron but a film of sticky pink around the edges. Sakura wasn't quite sure what had happened to the nearly 2 liters of liquid or the solid bits that had just a moment before been bubbling along within it, but now all she had left was something that looked like taffy and smelled like cheese.

The Professor had not been happy and there'd been plenty of tittering among her classmates. Sakura was _not_ accustomed to failing at an assignment, much less a school assignment, but she did know how to play a role as if her life depended on it. Distraught but earnest school girl was easy. Sakura did want to do her best and she was upset to have failed. But she was more focused on convincing the teacher it had been an issue of poor focus and not a failure to perform what was apparently the most basic of spells.

She didn't have Ino's level of skill, but Sakura didn't do too bad of a job at it. Some men liked to hear themselves shout. It wasn't hard to cater to that – as long as you were willing to swallow your pride. She was more worried about the good opinion of her fellow classmates. They were the ones she had to convince that she belonged there. But a little bit of flattery went a long way, and it didn't take much to get her fellow housemates helpfully offering advice.

All in all, a successful first attempt that left her feeling optimistic about their ability to pull this off.

That right there should have been a sign of things to come.

.

.

.

The less said about Herbology the better. She might have felt guilty for killing an innocent plant if said plant hadn't tried to bite her. The mild mannered teacher had seemed even more outraged about Sakura killing the vicious thing than her potions teacher had at her redecorating the classroom in pink taffy. A certain kind of achievement, Sakura supposed.


	25. Chapter 25

It was a long first week back at Hogwarts, even by Harry's standards. There was almost bloodshed in potions when Sasuke 'dropped' a knife from his side of the room to two tables over where Mafloy was sitting. Transfiguration had been slightly better since Sakura managed to transform her slipper into a mouse. Which would have been very impressive except they were supposed to be changing the shoes into teacups. For a moment Harry thought that they were finally making progress, but when he tried to congratulate Sakura, she shook her head and discreetly showed him the slipper tucked under her desk. He wasn't sure where the mouse had come from, or how she had managed to switch the two of them out without anyone noticing, but it at least bought them a little time.

The less said about Herbology, the better.

By dinner time on Friday night, Harry was starting to despair. How were they going to keep this charade up for months? Team 7 had insisted they would stay for the entire year. That it would be a good learning opportunity and that they had permission to take a sabbatical of sorts to keep him company as part of some kind of official diplomatic mission. Harry knew enough to know that was bullshit. They came because they thought he couldn't protect himself and because they expected to fix things the way they always fixed problems – by stabbing them a lot and maybe setting them on fire while they were at it. He tried telling them it wouldn't work, but short of explaining the prophecy, he didn't think he'd be able to convince them to give it up. And he didn't want to think how insufferable Sasuke would be if he even got wind of the prophecy.

So a year of Hogwarts together. And if he was honest, Harry would admit that he was happy to have his new friends so close. But if they didn't figure out how to make magic work soon, they were all going to be in a lot of trouble.

"It's the first week," Ron whined. "How can we already have three essays due when it's only the first week? That's unreasonable, that is."

"They have to start somewhere," Hermione replied, not looking up from her dinner reading. They had tried to break her of the habit their first two years before finally wising up and recognizing a battle they were not going to win. She'd slow down with the reading about a third of the way in the school year, they'd have a blessed short period of Hermione not being frantic about school work, and then finals would start to loom and she'd disappear from their dinner conversation again.

"Couldn't we have started with something a bit shorter?" Ron complained. "Though I suppose you'll have all of yours done by tonight." He managed to say it with only a little bit of bitterness.

Hermione sighed. "Unfortunately, no. We've got far too much to see to this evening. I'll have to get up early tomorrow and get a head start on it."

Both Ron and Harry paused and looked at her. Or rather the cover of her book. "We – have stuff to do?" Harry asked. This was the first he had heard of it.

"Honestly, Harry" Hermione complained and she lowered her book enough to glare at them. "You're the one who made this mess. We can hardly have a repeat of this week."

"Um, which part of this week?" Ron asked. "The three essay part?"

"The exploding blood shed part."

Harry flinched. He knew exactly what she was referring to. "They're trying, Hermione. It's not easy, you know? And I talked to Sasuke. Again. About the bloodshed part. He's just not used to people not being like him."

"Anti-social with strong violent tendencies and anger issues?"

Harry grimaced again but he couldn't deny it.

Hermione snapped her book shut. "We've got to do something. This can't go on."

"They really can't do _any_ spells?" Ron asked, keeping his voice quite as they huddled their heads together.

Harry shook his head grimly. "We tried a couple of times over the summer, but they couldn't get so much as a spark out of my wand. We had hoped they would have better luck with wands of their own, but they couldn't even get a proper wand at Ollivanders. He had to give them a collection of rejects."

Ron frowned. "I didn't think Ollivander's made rejects."

Harry shrugged. "I guess they do. He said they were for squibs trying to pass. Sakura said they can feel something resonating from the wands, but none of them have been able to figure out how to get their own magic to mix with it to do anything."

"Jutsus," Hermione parroted.

Harry was pretty sure he had only mentioned them in passing, but go figure Hermione would remember every detail and make the connection. He nodded. "It's really impressive what they can do, but it's not _magic_ and it's not going to help them pass in class. The Headmaster might be able to keep the teachers from making a fuss about it, but the students are going to notice."

Hermione hummed thoughtfully. "Where did the mouse come from?"

Ron frowned. "What mouse?"

"The one the girl had in Transfiguration. It was a real mouse, not one transformed from anything. Couldn't you tell the difference?" Ron shrugged and Hermione rolled her eyes. "No one makes a mouse that dirty when they transfigure something. It was a real mouse and I'm willing to bet she dug it up from somewhere on the castle grounds. How and why, I'm not sure, but if we could repeat it…"

"I don't think a bunch of mice is going to impress anyone, 'Moine."

She shoved him. "Not a bunch of mice, but a choreographed show of fake magic. Two different methods to get the same result. If there's something they can do that, we also have a similar spell for, we can try to arrange it to look like they're participating in whatever we're doing. It will take some clever sleight of hand, but…"

Harry smiled. "They're brilliant at sleight of hand."

"I've noticed," Hermione drawled back, not sounding the least bit impressed. Which really, seemed a little bit of the pot calling the cauldron black. The three of them had gotten up to all manner of things that benefited from a little bit of sleight of hand, fast talking, and liberal use of an invisibility cloak. Surely, she couldn't begrudge them a bit of sneaking around.

"So how does this work?" Ron asked. "Do we have them blow something else up? Because I've got to say, they're pretty brilliant at that too." He grinned broadly. "I haven't seen such an explosion since Dean last tried making wine."

"No, we need them to succeed at something, not just constantly look like failures."

"Geeze, don't sugar coat it," Harry grumbled.

"They're awful," Hermione replied flatly. "And we need to come up with something to make them look good or this ridiculous idea of yours isn't even going to survive the first week."

Hermione was right, as usual. Harry slumped back in his seat, applying himself to his potatoes and trying to think. He'd spent a good part of the summer with them. And while most of that had been them trying to teach him how to defend himself, he had had the opportunity to see what they could do. There had to be some overlap between magic and jutsus, they were just too similar for there not to be. The problem was, everything they did required free hands and he didn't know if they could manage holding a wand and still twisting them into those complicated shapes. It would need to be something simple, a jutsu all three of Team 7 could do that looked just like a spell that didn't require too complex of an incantation.

"Our first DA meeting is next week," Hermione announced. She had her schedule spread out over her text book and was busy updating the entry in it.

"It is?" Harry asked, quirking an eyebrow. "That's news to me."

"No reason not to. We ought to get as many meetings in while our school workload is still light."

"You call this light?" Ron grumbled.

"Besides," Hermione continued, as if he hadn't said anything. "The sooner we can get your friends doing something the better. We can't do much to fix how their classes go, but if we can help them look slightly more competent in a one on one setting, people might just assume they have performance anxiety or something. Look at Neville. He may struggle in class but he's improved leaps and bounds one on one."

Harry agreed. They'd seen more than one Hogwarts student do much better during club meetings when they could joke around and keep trying till they got it right versus having a Professor standing there watching you. "Shame we can't ask Neville for help. He might have some pointers."

Hermione looked up from her books and stared at Harry. "You could, you know. Ask our friends for help. They made it fairly clear last year that they would." Which was not a topic Harry much wanted to discuss. He didn't want to talk about anything to do with how last year ended – or who got hurt. Hermione sighed. "But that would mean explaining why we need help. And I suppose you haven't changed your mind about telling people the truth?"

Harry shook his head. If the wizarding world found out Sasuke was Harry's cousin, there'd be no end of trouble. If anyone found out Team 7 couldn't do magic, it would be even worse. Sure, _Harry_ knew they could protect themselves. But no defense was perfect and being seen as an easy target made you more vulnerable because people were more likely to attack thinking they could get away with it. Harry had seen that time and time again with Dudley. It wasn't fair, and it meant that those people had to be more careful. And not take stupid risks like letting people know you had a weakness. Harry could get off a spell a lot faster than most nin could do a jutsu. And ninja might be fast, but Harry had seen Apparation used in combat now. He knew just how fast that fight could go. And he didn't want to find out the hard way if his cousin was quicker or not.

Hermione sighed. "I figured. Why do the smart thing when we can do the hard thing."

"Hey, we do things your hard way sometimes too," Ron pointed out.

"Alright, alright," she agreed. "At least it will give us a challenge to plan for."

Harry grimaced. "About that. I talked to Northstein at the end of class. He's all for DA club, but we have to find a teacher to sponsor. And he said it can't be Kakashi-sensei."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I don't think he'd be a great deal of help considering."

Harry snorted. "Depends on what our goal is this year. Studying for NEWTS or learning self-defense. I promise he could teach us a thing or two about the latter."

"Who else do we have?" Ron asked. "Please not McGonagall. I have a hard enough time in her class as it is."

"Snape is out for obvious reasons," Hermione mused. When they both gave her incredulous looks she huffed and added, "I did say obvious."

"Flitwick?"

"Already sponsoring a club. I doubt we could get him to do another one."

"And Sprout's got her hands full mentoring the first and second years."

The three of them stared at each other morosely. Finally Harry groaned. "That doesn't leave anyone. All the teachers left will either stop us from practicing because it's too dangerous or secretly hopes we all kill each other."

Ron grinned. "To be fair, Trelawney just thinks you're going to die. She hasn't said anything about the rest of us."

Harry groaned. He was never going to live that down.

Hermione ignored them both in favor of staring pensively up at the head table. "There's one option we haven't thought of yet." Which meant that Hermione had thought of it and was just being nice to them for not having managed to think of it themselves. "What about the Headmaster?"

"We can't ask him," Harry said, aghast at the very idea. He hadn't spoken much to the Headmaster since the disaster of last year, and while the old man had explained why he had done what he had done, it still stung to have been so cut off from the truth – and to have failed so horribly when he had tried to manage on his own. Their one conversation of the year so far had been stilted and difficult to get through. Harry couldn't help it, after a year of the man avoiding him only to find out there really was damn good reason for having done so left a bitter taste in his mouth that made it hard to meet the man's eyes now. Harry wasn't sure which one of them he was more upset with, the Headmaster or himself, but he knew he'd rather avoid thinking about it.

Ron at least seemed to be in agreement that the Headmaster was a daunting choice going by the horrified look on his face.

But Hermione had that stubborn look on her face that Harry knew meant nothing good would come of arguing the point. "Why not? It is his army, after all. At the very least, we ought to ask him for help."

"You think?" Ron mussed and Harry realized he was losing his support that fast. "He does like you, Harry. It wouldn't seem weird for _you_ to ask."

"Why does it have to be me?" Harry complained and they both stared at him until he crumbled. "Fine. It ought to be me. We don't have any other choice?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Really, Harry. It's for the good of the club. You can manage," she added with absolutely zero sympathy and the rather clear implication that she thought he was being a moron for carrying on so. And maybe she was right.

Harry sighed. "Fine. I'll ask. But you'll help me work with Sasuke and the others, right? To figure out their magic."

Hermione frowned but nodded. "Though for the record, one of us has a much more difficult task ahead of us than the other," she replied out tartly before pointedly raising her book back up.


	26. Chapter 26

Naruto'd be the first to admit that school wasn't his strong suit, but this was far more important than his academy days had been. This wasn't a bunch of useless knowledge someone was trying to drill into his head because one day eventually at some point it _would_ be useful, even if Naruto was too stupid at the time to understand that. This was something they needed _now_. For the mission. For protecting Harry. It couldn't wait. But no matter how many times he flicked or twisted or taped one of their wands, he couldn't get anything to happen. Which was maddening, because he could almost feel something inside the twig. Almost like it had its own chakra that wanted to get out, he just didn't know how to make it happen.

The teacher stopped by his desk for the third time since class had started and Naruto wanted to tear his hair out. The little old man probably thought he was being helpful, but it was driving Naruto even more nuts constantly being checked on. The man tried shifting Naruto's grip, but it didn't help any. Naruto did his best to keep holding it exactly the way the man had shown him however, even though it didn't _feel_ any different. Maybe there was some secret to this. Somethin' that the others all found so obvious and easy it didn't bear mentioning. Maybe if his forefinger really was a centimeter further up it would make a difference.

Someone huffed loudly next to him and a chair was pulled over and Harry's friend Hermione was sitting next to his desk before anyone could argue about it.

"Do it again," she repeated.

Do what? He wasn't actually _doing_ anything. Scowling, Naruto tried again, not surprised when the results were the same disappointment but not ready to give up yet. All of Team 7 had expected to be further along than this by this point. How hard could it be? They only needed enough to pass, to be able to not draw attention to themselves. They could work on figurin' out the finer details later. But even the simplest of spells wouldn't come, and if Naruto was starting to feel desperate, then it had to be so much worse for Sasuke and Sakura.

"Your form is good," Hermione announced. "Your pronunciation is still off, but considering it's a German based spell, pronunciation typically isn't as important. It's not as if most British wizards have great German. The pronunciation has been bent over the years enough that any variation in your accent shouldn't be the issue. I don't understand why it's not working."

Naruto flushed and scowled, but he tried again and again.

"Oh, stop that, simply repeating a thing won't make it work right this time around. We need to try something else."

He growled and threw his hands up in the air. "I've tried everything, it's not working!"

People were staring now, even the teacher who was all the way on the other side of the room helping another student finesse their working spell. Hermione waved at him reassuringly before leaning over and yanking Naruto's right arm down. Naruto let her, curious what she would do next. He didn't _think_ she was going to attack him but it sure was a much more aggressive thing than he was used to seeing out of these civilians.

"You all are idiots," she announced and Naruto objected loudly. "Oh, do be quiet. Was this Harry's idea or one of yours?"

"What?"

"This! This pretending to be wizards when you're clearly not."

"I – I don't know what you mean!" Naruto laughed nervously. He couldn't help glancing out of the corner of his eye at Sasuke. He had taken a seat on the other side of the room, closer to the door and as far from Harry as he could get. It was a good sentinel position and avoided any implication that he and Harry might be friends. Which was probably extreme, but that was Sasuke for you. The other boy hadn't once turned around to look at Naruto. Short of Naruto blowing somethin' up, he probably wouldn't. He wasn't managing the spell any better than Naruto was, but no one else seemed to notice. Naruto didn't know how he did it, but Sasuke made everyone else think he had everything under control even when he didn't know what the fuck was goin' on any better than Naruto did. It wasn't like people _liked_ Sasuke. Well, not unless they were scary like Ino and Sakura. Most people actually _disliked _Sasuke. But there was something about him that stopped people from questioning him.

People were forever questioning Naruto's ability to do anything.

"Well?" the girl demanded.

"Ours?" Naruto tried.

She sighed. "Maybe you are related," she muttered. "You're just as reckless and foolish."

"Thanks?"

She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. "I still think there's something fishy going on here," she told him. And it was nice of her to let them know she suspected them of something! Most nin wouldn't have warned a person like that unless they felt benevolent towards them.

She kept talking. "But it's painful to watch you fall on your face doing this. So this is what you're going to do. You're going to do the spell again, once I leave. And you are going to intentionally mess up. Big time."

"Um, that's kind of what I've been doing?"

She rolled her eyes. "Harry said you could do magic, just not spells. That's correct, right?"

"You mean jutsus?"

"Jutsus," she repeated, like she was trying out the word. "How do you spell that? Nevermind. Later. I mean, I want you to use magic to make something happen. Set something on fire, make something explode. I don't know, just something big enough people will see it and it will disrupt class."

Naruto took a moment to process that. "You _want_ me to intentionally destroy somethin' and cause trouble?"

"No, I want you to fail at this again, but this time fail at it in a way that makes it clear you at least have some kind of magic. You all keep this up, never casting any spells, never actually _doing_ anything and people are going to start asking questions."

"Ooh, that's clever."

"Yes," she agreed without a hint of modesty. "Wait until I get back to my seat so they know it's not me. And for the love of god, we have to get this fixed fast."

Naruto smiled at her. He knew Harry's friends had to be as cool as he was. "No problem!" he promised. She stared at him skeptically for a moment before huffing one last time and pushing away from the table. Naruto watched her go and risked a cheekily little wave at Harry and his other friends.

Somethin' flashy and disruptive? Naruto could do that. He might normally prefer a more direct, physical approach to battle, but he hadn't gotten his reputation as a prankster for nothin'. It only took a little doing to set up and prime an explosive tag. Next time, he'd make sure to have something more impressive on hand, but a simple flash bang would have to suffice for now. On the next flicking twist incantation, he fed a sharp spike of chakra into the tag. It was excessive, maybe, for igniting it, but he figured a little extra spark to it couldn't hurt.

Though maybe he could have scaled back the explosive power a touch more. The desk was a lost cause and so was the hair of the girl in front of him.

"Opps?"


	27. Chapter 27

Harry had been planning to fully enjoy a quiet Saturday morning by sleeping in. It would probably be the last time he got to before all of the homework, Quidditch, DA club, and yearly disasters kicked in. Not only did Harry have to deal with starting his sixth year (and apparently expected to already be preparing for NEWTs, which was horrible) but any moment that wasn't spent worrying about his own classes was spent worrying about Team 7. So when Sasuke made it clear that Harry was expected up early for training, Harry was not looking forward to it. And not just because of the ungodly hour he suggested.

"The sun isn't even up. Why am I?" Harry muttered as they made their way down the hall. Hogwarts was like another world at this hour. It wasn't the brimming bustle of activity you saw between classes. It wasn't even the magical mystery it was at night, when they snuck around after hours. It was large and empty and it was like you could feel it waiting. As if everything had frozen in time, holding its breath, poised for the day to start. Even the candle light looked different.

"Your friends are annoying," Sasuke replied. Which Harry might have taken offense at if it had been anyone else, but just about everything was annoying to Sasuke. Also it was too early in the morning to have a row over it.

Harry leaned on the railing while the moving staircase shifted to take them down a level. Sasuke stood perfectly still, back straight, only his eyes darting back and forth as they tried to take in everything around them, from the moving portraits to the balconies above and the floors below. He certainly didn't seem bothered by the early hour. Harry might have thought the other boy never slept going by the way he looked, except that Harry had also seen him pass out at the dinner table after a long day because he was too lazy to move to his room. He might try to act like he was constantly the perfect soldier, but Harry knew better. And to be honest, knowing there was an actual person beneath all of that perfect made it easier to remember why Harry liked him. And it wasn't just because of their blood connection, though sometimes he had to remind himself more often than others.

They were just stepping off of the stairs and onto the ground floor when Sakura appeared in front of them. Harry jerked back instinctively, bumping into Sasuke and stepping on his foot. He seemed more amused than annoyed, though, going by the very quiet snort Harry heard behind him. Urgh. Definitely too early in the morning for this, though he was certainly feeling much more awake now. It wasn't unusual for them to do this kind of thing to him. Their greater speed was both a point of pride for them and something they were trying to beat into Harry by whatever means necessary. It wasn't really taking, and Harry thought it never would, but that didn't stop him from trying.

"You came from on our left, right?" he hazard. Because that serene smile on her face could only mean she had intended to surprise the hell out of him.

"How far on your left?" she countered. Which hopefully meant he was right. Though he wouldn't put it past her to ask something like that just to trick him.

"Not far?" Harry guessed. "You didn't use a jutsu to get here, so that kind of limits the range."

Sakura smiled at Sasuke over Harry's shoulder. "He's getting better at sensing jutsus."

"Pity we are not getting better at magic," Sasuke grumbled, before brushing past them and the topic of Team 7's own failure. "Come on."

The ninja's common room had changed quite a bit since the first night Harry had been there. All of the furniture had been moved out of the middle of the room, some of it even stacked on top of each other along the wall. Even the rugs had been rolled up and moved to the side. Only a couple of chairs were still usable, and the entire expanse of the long table. It was pushed up against a wall and currently covered in what looked like an entire year's worth of notes and papers. It almost looked like Hermione's workspace once she was deep into a problem or gearing up for finals - or it would have except for the stray kunai used as a paper weight or the stack of freshly inked tags. Clearly, the nin had been hard at work and unafraid of rearranging things as they saw fit. At least there were no holes in the walls or burn marks yet.

"Is it always like this?" Harry asked. Because it had to be giving the house elves hysterics.

Sasuke and Sakura seemed a little confused by the question, but eventually Sakura shrugged. "More efficient this way. They did say we should think of the rooms as our home."

"Harry-kun!" Kakashi-sensei cried out happily, dropping the book he had been reading on top of the pile on the table. For once, it looked like he had actually been reading something not questionable. In fact, it sort of looked like one of Hermione's runes books. "And how are you enjoying being back in classes? I think my subordinates have been receiving an excellent lesson so far."

"Classes are… fine," Harry agreed. Potions was terrible, McGonagall seemed to want to bury them in homework, and even DADA which was far more interesting this year than it ever had been (at least since Lupin had his run at it) was marred by the fact that every time Kakashi-sensei actually showed up to class, Professor Northstein did his best to humiliate the man.

"I haven't learned anything," Naruto bemoaned as he joined them in the main room. He had a bowl in his hands and was apparently still finishing up breakfast. Harry would have normally skipped it himself, but Sasuke had dragged him out of bed and shoved an apple in his hands at the same time. It had just been easier to eat it than question it.

Sasuke snorted. "No one expected _you _to learn anything."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at him. "That so? And what exactly 've you learned, teme? Share with the rest of us what brilliant breakthrough you've made!"

Sasuke scowled back and Harry rolled his eyes at him. He had walked right into that one, after all.

"Sasuke-kun has learned how to fall on his ass," Kakashi ever so helpfully pointed out before clapping his hands. "Alright children. We've only got about two hours before dear Harry is expected back with his compatriots. Let's get to work."

Which didn't bode well for Harry. It didn't take four nin to teach the basics. In fact, most of Harry's 'training' had consisted of either him repeating the same boring move over and over again by himself or having one of the others slowly work him through how to fight an opponent. In fact, Kakashi rarely ever participated unless it was in a more passive role he could do while reading, like keeping watch to make sure Harry didn't accidentally stab himself with a kunai.

"We aren't doing katas, are we?" Harry asked with a sigh.

"Oh, you still get to do those. Later. Today you get to work with me, Harry-kun. One on one."

Harry groaned. This was going to be so much worse.


	28. Chapter 28

Over the last summer Harry had watched his cousin, his cousin's teammates, and several other nin from their village as they took the magical forces they _could_ access and reshaped it and formed it into a thing called jutsus. Harry might not have Hermione's stringent academic interests, but he had a healthy sense of curiosity. Of course he wanted to know how it worked. So he had watched and studied it as much as he could. And the others had only encouraged and supported him in it. But even after months, Harry had very little to show for it.

Really nothing to show for it, except for some vague feelings and impressions. Not exactly impressive.

Chakra and magic had to be one and the same thing. It was the only explanation that made any sense. The two things couldn't be completely separate. And Harry's father had not only managed to use magic, but had been fairly good at it if you talked to his classmates and teachers. So there wasn't anything stopping someone from a ninja background from becoming a wizard and it stood to reason that the reverse would be true.

They just had to figure out how.

It was one of the many, many things Harry desperately wished he could just _ask_ his Dad. How much simpler life would be if he had been the kind of person who actually had that option in life. Parents to go ask for help, a dad who might have gone through the same thing he was now…

Kakashi had him go through each of the hand seals again. The first dozen or so times Harry had tried over the summer, it had been awkward and even painful. It wasn't as bad now, though there was the occasional bit of tutting when Harry's fingers just wouldn't bend quite as much as Kakashi-sensei would like. After that he had him move on to combinations. Each time Harry tried pushing magic through it the way the others described using chakra.

Each time was yet another failure.

And getting stared at so intently by a room full of nin was distinctly uncomfortable. Particularly when two of them had red eyes.

"You're not pushing enough," Kakashi repeated. It was the most helpful advice the man had been able to manage in the last hour and it was about as helpful as telling a drowning person to try swimming.

"I'm trying," Harry grumbled even as he gave up on his most recent attempt and shook his hands out. "It just isn't working. I can feel where the magic's supposed to go, but every time I try to get it to flow that way, it just pushes back." And it was starting to give him a headache. Magic had never exactly been hard for Harry before, and he suddenly had a new appreciation for his classmates when they struggled with a particular spell. "Shouldn't we be working on your magic? Seems like that should be the bigger priority here. We're not going to be able to keep this a secret forever you know."

Kakashi-sensei waved that off with one lazy flap of his hand. "My subordinates have that under control," he asserted. Which was ridiculous, really. Sure, they had managed to get through the first week of classes without disaster striking, but they hadn't actually fixed anything yet. And if there was one thing Harry had learned at Hogwarts it was that whatever the worst possible outcome was, that was what was likely to happen.

"Besides," Kakashi-sensei continued. "That's not our mission priority."

Harry gave him a skeptical look. "I would have thought magic was something you lot would be foaming at the mouth to add to your collection."

Kakashi grinned brightly. "Oh, no doubt it will be a nice bonus to bring home to the Hokage," he all but _purred_. "But mission priority is keeping the mark alive, so chop chop. Do it again."

"Not helpless, you know," Harry grumbled but complied. He wasn't even going to pretend that he wasn't just as eager to learn how to use chakra. He'd always like this kind of learning and it seemed like the ultimate challenge. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves then started the sequence again. The first seal didn't feel like much, but by the second and third he could feel that pressure building. The same kind of _full_ feeling he had felt the first time he had tried this, back when he first met Team 7. The same kind that happened every time he tried. Like there was too much air in his lungs. Like he could feel his own blood in his veins rushing, pulsing, pushing against his skin. A tingling feeling that was somehow either numb or oversensitive or something that made him feel like all the hair on him must be standing straight up.

It wasn't painful, but it wasn't exactly pleasant either. And he just couldn't figure out how to get any of it to come _out_ of him. With magic it was so easy. Just point and say the right word and will it to be what you wanted. And if you focused enough it would happen.

Harry had tried everything. He had tried focusing on the feeling, but no matter how much it felt like it was going to overwhelm him any second now, he still couldn't get it to become anything. He had tried visualizing what he wanted to happen. Lord knew he had seen the nin demonstrate it enough times. But even though he knew exactly how it was supposed to look, he still didn't know what it _felt_ like to do it, and he had a feeling that without knowing exactly what the sensation of doing it was like he would never be able to duplicate it. He had tried focusing on the seals themselves, but other than making him occasionally get finger-tied from thinking about it too hard that hadn't seemed to help any either. He had tried focusing on the names of the seals instead, as if they were the magic words he needed to make it happen, but it was hard to think of things like ox and boar and snake as anything other than just the name of animals. He had even tried just casting wandless magic – not even trying to form a 'jutsu' and instead trying to will into being the same effect with magic. Which was ridiculous, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

He not only had a throbbing headache but his hands were beginning to cramp by the time Kakashi called it a day. The man hadn't once touched his book the entire time and it was probably the longest Harry had seen him focus on something other than a racy novel. He dropped his chin into one hand, both eyes watching Harry closely even as he sighed with great drama. "Clearly we aren't getting anywhere with this."

Harry scowled, far more tired than he should be, and both sore and restless. "I could have told you that," he grumbled. "We ought to focus on something we actually have a hope of fixing, like you guys and magic."

"Two sides of the same coin, dear Harry," Kakashi-sensei murmured back, with that falsely indulgent tone of voice he sometimes liked to use to annoy the hell out of his students. "Which is one thought, I suppose. Where's your wand?"

Finally! Harry shook out his hands and slipped it into his grip. Now this felt _right_. It would be nice to actually accomplish something for once other than making him feel like his skin was three sizes too small.

"Great!" Kakashi declared before hopping up from his seat and striding over in what seemed like one sudden move. "I'll just hold onto that for you then," he declared as he was already taking it and only at the last moment did Harry manage to get his brain and his body in gear enough to try to jerk back. It was a worthless attempt. Kakashi-sensei had him beat from the moment the man had opened his mouth most likely, but Harry wasn't going to give up his wand without some kind of fight. Except a wand wasn't the easiest thing to keep a firm grip on when the other person was foolish enough to grab it by the other end and pull. Short of blasting the other man off his feet - which _was_ tempting- there wasn't much Harry could do. The thin piece of wood slipped through his fingers in a way that made his stomach drop – and most surprisingly – which sent up a shower of red sparks.

As far as Harry knew, he had never done something like that since the time he had tried out wands in Ollivander's shop. He certainly hadn't meant to do it and the shock was enough to get him to let go suddenly enough that Kakashi almost took a step back thrown off balance. Accidental magic. What was Harry, a child now? He had certainly never done something so flashy living with the Dursely's, but he had heard stories of his classmates creating impressive firework displays as small children. It apparently was a favorite embarrassing story for normal families to share. Harmless, but certainly attention grabbing.

But Kakashi was shaking out his hand as if he had been showered with real sparks and not just the harmless light shows most accidental magic was.

Harry paled a little. "Are – are you okay?"

Kakashi raised one eyebrow and said nothing.

"I'm sorry? I don't know how I did that. I didn't mean to do that. Um, it didn't actually hurt, did it?"

"I've had worse," he replied dryly. "But yes, it's not a bad self-defense mechanism. Burns enough."

Harry's stomach dropped.

"Not intentional though?" Kakashi asked, and he actually sounded a little disappointed.

Harry shook his head.

"Shame. Though interesting. I think I ought to hang on to this for a moment. Don't worry, I'll give it back to you before you leave!" Kakashi told him cheerfully before pocketing Harry's wand and stepping back. It made Harry feel ridiculously naked and vulnerable, not just to not have his wand but to know that someone else had it and that that person could choose not to give it back to him if they wanted and that there wouldn't be much that Harry could do if that happened, and really, this was not a good idea.

Harry took a step forward, to do what, he wasn't quite sure but he didn't like this new idea at all.

Kakashi-sensei tutted at him. "Now, now, Harry, do try to focus. We're going to do a little practice together," he announced before sending a small wave of fire Harry's way. It wasn't very big, maybe about the size of a bucket full of water, but there was a sharp difference between water and fire. Harry didn't waste time hesitating on being outraged. He dived left, arm up to protect himself as much as he could and reaching for the nearest thing with his other hand, hoping to put something between him and any possible further attack. The dining room chair probably wasn't going to do much good, but he felt better being on the other side of it.

"Wonderful reflexes, Harry-kun! But still a complete failure. Chakra!" he demanded and Harry stared at him in horror.

This was the one thing they had not tried. The nin had tried using Harry's wand and Harry had tried using chakra and on one very memorable single occasion they had even tried a friendly duel between the two of them, each playing to their own strengths. None of them had ever tried just flinging jutsu's at Harry and telling him to defend himself with something he couldn't even do.

"_Are you insane_?"

"Likely. Again!"


	29. Chapter 29

"Harry? A moment of your time, please, if you would."

Harry stopped just outside of the Great Hall and had to wonder if the Headmaster really did have the ability to know what a person was thinking. It had only been a couple of days since Hermione had come up with the brilliant plan of asking the Headmaster for help with DA club and it looked like Harry wasn't going to have a choice on the matter. Ron and Hermione had already been on their way back to the common room without him, but they managed to sneak in a matching set of pointed looks that Harry couldn't ignore. He had managed to go this long without having to really talk to the Headmaster and he found himself hunching his shoulders wishing he could have gone just a little bit longer. Harry had hoped to spend a little time after dinner with Team 7 and see how they were holding up. So far they hadn't made any progress and it was clear that it was starting to wear on them. Even Kakashi-sensei seemed a bit stressed.

But the Headmaster wasn't exactly someone you could ignore or brush off.

"Yes, sir?"

Dumbledore smiled warmly at him, his hands folded in front of him as he slowly rocked back and forth on his heels. "And how are you transitioning back to the wizarding world, Mr. Potter?" he asked. "I'm afraid you gave us all quite the fright when you disappeared like that."

Harry sighed. He had a feeling he was going to be apologizing for that one for some time to come. He was starting to kind of miss being gone. Things in Konoha had seemed simpler at least. No classes to contend with or uncomfortable questions. "I'm doing okay. More worried about the others, you know?"

"Oh, dear, yes. I've already heard some worrisome reports, particularly from Professor Northstein. While most of the staff understands the situation, I'm afraid we couldn't count on everyone's discretion with the full information, if you understand my meaning."

Harry wasn't completely sure he did, but it was clear that Northstein thought all of Team 7 was worthless and he sure didn't hesitate to make that known. Particularly with Kakashi-sensei. Although, at least when he was picking on Kakashi he tended to leave the others alone. It was grating enough as it was, hearing people Harry cared about and respected being talked about as if they were somehow inferior. It was making what should have for once been a great year in DADA miserable and difficult to concentrate in. But he guessed they didn't really have a choice. The last time Harry had suggested it might be safer for Team 7 to go home, he'd gotten such a glare from Sasuke it was a miracle he hadn't been cursed right there and then. "We'll figure it out," Harry replied, trying to shrug it off for now. He knew he sounded more confident than he really was, but they didn't really have a choice, did they? They _had_ to figure this out.

"Yes, yes, all in good time I'm sure. A fascinating opportunity for all around."

"Actually, about that, sir," Harry interrupted before the Headmaster could get started on that vein or pull the conversation onto something else. And so Harry could get this over with as fast as possible. "We'd really like to start DA club back up again."

"A wonderful idea!" Dumbledore cried, and it was reassuring how genuinely happy about it he sounded. It had always been a bit of a grey area when they had started it, but it was nice to know that the teachers whose opinions he actually cared about were in support of them. They had always hoped Dumbledore would be proud of them for sticking it out, even under Umbridge's threats, but last year had felt so isolating. They had been on their own for so much of it, trying to figure out what to do when it was clear the adults either couldn't or wouldn't help them.

"Thanks," Harry muttered, ducking his head and trying to straighten his hair. "Well, Professor Northstein said we have to have a Professor present. But we've run into a bit of trouble finding someone to – who's – well, someone who would work well, if you know what I mean."

"Hm, yes. I always thought we should have continued with the dueling club, but resources being what they are and staffing changes…. But surely one of your professors would be happy to help, Mr. Potter."

"Sure," Harry agreed because it wasn't exactly polite to contradict your teachers when you were asking them for help. "We're just sort of limited in who's interested – and who has the, ah, right temperament, you know?"

Dumbledore stared at him for a moment, something almost like a smile on his face, if something that looked sort of conniving could be called a smile. "I take it Professor Snape falls into only one of those two categories?"

Harry blanched. He hadn't even thought to think that the Headmaster might suggest such a thing and the very idea was horrifying. What was he going to do if that's what the Headmaster 'recommended' they do? They'd have an even harder time figuring out another solution if the Headmaster already thought that he had given them a perfectly good one. Thank god, the Headmaster didn't drag out his misery too long before continuing. "No, I suppose not. Professor Snape does have a very busy schedule at the moment. I am surprised, however, Mr. Potter, that you haven't tried recruiting a bit closer at hand. Surely, Professor Kakashi would be happy to supervise such an activity. As I understand it, you and Ms. Granger arrange most of the actual substance of the club already, so you would only need a bit of oversight and guidance, hm?"

"That's just it," Harry said, feeling flush with both relief and hope that maybe the Headmaster would pull a solution out of thin air for them. "Professor Northstein specifically forbade us from using him. Something about him not being qualified, but that's ridiculous. Can't you-"

"Oh dear, then I suppose that isn't an option."

Harry's heart sank again. "But surely-"

"Now, now, Mr. Potter, if Professor Northstein was quite firm on the matter, then I would hardly wish to contradict him on such a thing. Why not simply have him oversee your meetings?"

It was the obvious, natural choice. And Professor Northstein seemed like a competent enough teacher, he would probably actually be a benefit to them. But there was one simple reason none of them had considered him for the job. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea, sir," Harry tried, scrambling to find a way to put this as politely as possible. "You see, we were kind of hoping to work more closely with Team 7 on helping them figure out how to cast spells or at least make it look like they were a bit more competent in DA meetings so people won't ask so many questions."

The Headmaster arched one fuzzy eyebrow. "And you believe that Professor Northstein will ask those uncomfortable questions?"

_I think he clearly hates them and enjoys making them all look like idiots in class,_ Harry thought to himself but he had learned long ago to be very careful what you said to the Headmaster. "I don't think it would make for a very comfortable environment," he tried.

And you could never tell for sure with Dumbledore just how much he already knew, how much he managed to infer from what you said, and when he actually had no idea that there was a problem. "I see," he finally announced, pensively and completely opaquely. "Well then, nothing for it. We'll just have to have both DADA professors attend. That ought to make it much more convenient. And then Professor Northstein can rest assured that everything is being managed well. Yes, I'll speak to him tomorrow morning on the matter. I think it might be an excellent opportunity for him and Professor Kakashi to learn more about one another."

Harry was beginning to think the sudden bouts of horror were actually going to make him sick. Northstein and Kakashi work together? Not in a million years. "I don't know if they would like that very much," Harry said faintly, trying to somehow salvage this disaster.

The Headmaster gave him a hard look. "Why would they not, Mr. Potter? Unless there is something you would like to tell me?"

"No, sir," he gritted out. If the Headmaster hadn't figured it out already then Harry wasn't going to be the one to tell him. "I just don't think it's a very good idea."

The Headmaster patted him on the shoulder. "You need to learn to make the most out of the strengths of the people around you, Mr. Potter. People will surprise you with what they are capable of. Now then. Now that that's settled, perhaps we could talk about the matter I stop you for. I was wondering, Mr. Potter, if you would like to come assist me with a small task."

Harry hesitated, staring back at the man in surprise. "Sir?" he asked tentatively. Because he was pretty sure the Headmaster hadn't stopped him to ask for something as mundane as a bit of community service or school boy errands. It had to be something to do with Order business. Which of course meant that Harry would help in any way that he could. But he wasn't used to the man actually asking him bluntly like that. Usually it was more of a case of a series of breadcrumbs made up of off-handed comments and details slipped during other conversations that lead Harry in the direction the Headmaster needed. To be out right asked was novel. Slightly flattering. And worrying.

Dumbledore seemed to understand his confusion. His smile was suddenly a bit rueful, or looked like it was trying to be rueful. "I understand now that my efforts to…shield you from what was happening last year were perhaps not the most effective method of managing your talents. And as it happens, we have a somewhat difficult situation on our hands. I am not sure how much you are aware of how difficult it was filling the DADA position this year."

"Because of the curse?" Harry asked. Because really, six years was starting to get a bit ridiculous.

"That among other things. Now is not a time when many people feel comfortable taking on a new role in life."

Harry frowned but he could sort of understand that. "But Professor Northstein agreed?"

"As a personal favor," Dumbledore explained. "Something of which I find myself running short on each and every year."

"He…seems like a good teacher," Harry offered. He wasn't sure if it was his place to comment on the quality of his professors, but it also seemed like the Headmaster wasn't as confident in having to take on Northstein. Harry had mixed feelings about the man himself. He could be as cruel as Snape when he wanted to but at least he seemed to know how to teach. His rule about DA club had rather spectacularly blown up in all of their faces, Harry thought, but at least it meant he kind of cared. That was more than Harry could say for a lot of his previous teachers.

"Old Aurors are a surprisingly difficult thing to come by. Professor Northstein retired some years ago, after lengthy service both in the field and training new Aurors to take his place. I had to ask him to come out of retirement for this job, and to be honest, I believe he only took it because he found the events at the Ministry last year so offensive."

Harry did not want to talk about last year. Particularly not about what happened at the Ministry. He wasn't stupid. He knew something like that was going to happen again, it was only a matter of time. And he was terrified he was going to lose yet someone else. The best he could do right now was focus on being as prepared as possible. "Yes, sir," he agreed. He suddenly didn't care where Northstein came from or how well qualified he was or was not. Harry was more than ready to just talk about something else. Anything else.

The Headmaster hummed thoughtfully. "Well! Fortunate for us that everything worked out well on that front. I had been getting to the point of considering more drastic options, right before you left us so suddenly this summer."

Harry grimaced and tried to apologize _again_ but the Headmaster waved it off. "Clearly, things have changed since then, and I think Professor Kakashi will be an excellent addition this year. Perhaps exactly what we need. Something unexpected might just be the thing. But I was just thinking, it might not be a bad thought to still continue to nurture certain relationships, you know. I thought I might go visit one of those gentlemen I had had some hopes of convincing to join us here. Would you perhaps like to accompany me? I will be sure to have you back in your dormitory before curfew."

It took Harry a moment to even understand what the Headmaster was even asking of him. He wanted them to go on a trip. To see someone. Right now. Students didn't go on trips. Not during the middle of the week, not to a stranger's houses, and not with the Headmaster. But most students didn't do lots of the kinds of things that Harry did.

And Harry couldn't deny that he was now very curious.

"Alright, sir," he agreed. "I – ah- should probably let _someone_ know that I'm gone. Yes?"

"Oh, no need for that right now, Harry. I think the more we keep this just between me and you the better."

And alright, Harry could wager what that meant. Don't tell Team 7. Which, now that Harry thought about it (because he hadn't actually until now) him leaving the castle grounds was not something Sasuke was going to be comfortable with. Knowing the other boy, he'd probably even try to forbid it. Which he didn't have the right to do, and Harry certainly wasn't going to listen to him, but it was a fight he really didn't want to have to have if it wasn't necessary. But leaving without telling Sasuke was probably going to lead to an even bigger row once he got back.

Assuming Sasuke even found out he was gone.

"I would like your assistance with this, Harry," the Headmaster continued. "But I am afraid it is a matter of the utmost discretion and I must insist it be kept between you and I. No one else."

"I – I don't really know what this is even about." Or why the hell it involved him.

The Headmaster frowned thoughtfully. "This, Harry, might be one of our best chances to actually do something about what's been happening around here, and not just react to it."

Now that had Harry's attention. There was only one thing he and the Headmaster both worried about and no one had ever talked about how to actually _stop_ him before. And now that Harry knew it had to be him, that he was going to have to be the one to kill Voldemort, he had even more of a vested interest in doing everything he could to make that happen.

"Alright, sir. Let's go."

Harry would just have to explain it to Sasuke later.

…maybe much later, if he could get away with putting it off. Or maybe even never, if he could manage to go and come back without the other boy even finding out.


	30. Chapter 30

The Headmaster did not waste any time. He had apparently been literally on his way out when he "decided" to take Harry with him. Within minutes they were out the door and quietly making their way from the school on foot. There was something slightly surreal about being out after hours, in the dark, with the Headmaster striding along beside him. There was something distinctly different about doing _this_ – whatever this was – with the Headmaster and not with Ron or Hermione. Surprisingly, it wasn't that it felt less like skulking about, but rather that the skulking about was much more focused and deliberate. Like the difference between messing up in class bad enough to get in trouble versus intentionally trying to rebel.

For a moment, it almost reminded him of the feeling of standing next to Sasuke or one of the others when they focused all of their attention and chakra on achieving one finite goal. Like magic was almost humming along with them, primed for something that they couldn't see ahead of them.

Adrenaline, Harry reminded himself. It was called adrenaline. There was nothing magical about it. Simple science. The natural world. There wasn't anything magical about that, was there?

"I regret that we have not had much chance to talk since your return, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore announced once they were far enough away from the castle that it felt like they were the only two people still awake, even though it was still early in the evening.

It wasn't that much different from the kind of meaningless small talk that most people started out with when stuck with someone for a length of time. But Harry was used to the Headmaster, or at least as used to him as probably anyone was. "I hadn't really expected us to," Harry finally settled on replying, but being careful to keep his tone as calm and level and not yelling as possible. He wasn't exactly happy with the way things had been handled last year, and sometimes he was still angry about it. Sometimes he _did_ blame the Headmaster. But normally it wasn't any more than he blamed anyone else – or himself. And he had resolved to be more level-head this year. To pay more attention to what was going on around him, and not just what was happening to him. To learn from his mistakes. To be better.

The Headmaster hummed thoughtfully. "Did you have a pleasant summer with your cousin?"

Harry snorted. In comparison to his previous summers with the Dursleys everything about this summer had been an improvement. "Yeah, it was good. Bit rough in patches, but good."

"We were all quite alarmed by the events at your Aunt's house. That should not have been possible." And that was maybe the first time Harry had ever heard the Headmaster truly sound confused by something.

It was kind of a nice reminder that the Order did put a lot of effort in trying to do their best for him. Poor Remus had seemed very distraught. "Oh!" Harry exclaimed, remembering that they hadn't really gone over all the details, had they? "Um, the man who attacked me, he's maybe sort of related to me too? Or rather, he's related to Sasuke, so you know…" Harry didn't really want to go into all of it. Not even with the Headmaster. It had been clear how much it had pained Sasuke to admit that Itachi was his brother. That it was someone that close to him that had done such horrible things. And while Sasuke clearly didn't care what anyone thought of him, it was also clear this was something he wished he could erase.

The Headmaster hummed again but thankfully didn't ask for a more detailed answer. "That might have affected the wards, but I would not have thought that they would have extended to your father's side. A puzzle for later, I suppose. No harm done."

Harry snorted but had to grin a little. No harm, at least not permanent. His Aunt probably had something else to say about her yard and house and car and general sanity. Harry couldn't go back there next summer, that much was clear. He didn't know what all the Headmaster had done to keep Harry in that house, but he doubted even the Headmaster could manage it after all of this. Thank god he wouldn't have to! Harry smiled, for once not already dreading the end of the year.

When they reached the gates, the Headmaster slowed.

"Are we not going to Hogsmeade?" Harry asked. He had assumed since that was the way they were walking that the Headmaster planned on a quick trip down to the village.

"Ah! I'm afraid our destination is a bit further out than that. I will have to Apparate us," he added slowly, watching Harry closely in the limited light they had used walking down.

Harry flushed a bit at having someone being so courteous about the visceral aversion Harry had had to Apparition after the Triwizarding tournament. "That's fine, sir. It doesn't bother me anymore," he muttered. It was mostly true. By comparison.

The Headmaster didn't press the point. He silently held out his arm and Harry took it.

Apparition was still gut-wrenching. It still felt like being turned inside out then sucked through a straw. But at least it didn't make him break out in a cold sweat anymore, or make his hands shake. It was easier to shake off the sense of discombobulation when he wasn't short of breath. Easier to focus on how fascinating it was to have been standing just moments before on a tree lined gravel driveway outside of a castle and to now be on the corner of a quiet, suburban street. Magic. It didn't matter if it was wonderful or terrible, it was always remarkable.

"Where are we, sir?" Harry asked, wanting to know just how far they had come. He hadn't been to many places before becoming a wizard and there was still something wonderful about suddenly finding himself in a different part of the world.

"Budleigh Babberton. The current home of an old friend. He taught at Hogwarts once before, long before your time. I had hoped to maybe lure him back, but circumstances were a bit different than predicted this year. Still, there's nothing wrong with a friendly visit, is there? Maybe a quick chat about old students."

Right. Because the Headmaster made it a habit to do things for no reason at all. Harry found himself grinning back. Alright then. He was along for this ride, might as well see where it was going.

Their first meeting with Mr. Slughorn both was and wasn't what Harry had expected. At least he had known the Headmaster was up to something before they had even set off. Normally he felt like he was walking into situations blind whenever the Headmaster came swooping in to pull him along. So it was nice to have a little warning this time. Still, he hadn't really expected the Headmaster of all people to try to take advantage of Harry's fame for something. He had never thought that the man would need to, but apparently, Mr. Slughorn was not susceptible to the Headmaster's reputation. But he was to Harry's.

Harry wouldn't say it was a comfortable evening, trading on his fame like that. Sometimes Slughorn sounded more like he was talking about a rare artifact than a person when he was talking about Harry. Harry had spent most of his school years trying to avoid drawing attention to himself. Usually he didn't have a choice whether or not he was going to be dragged into the limelight. There was something intrinsically different about when he did it on purpose. Clearly Dumbledore thought this was important, and watching Slughorn simper and avoid the Headmaster's questions just made Harry more curious. And curiosity would always be a far more efficient motivator for him than anything else.

Unfortunately, it was fairly evident that they had not gotten the information the Headmaster had wanted in their first meeting. What the Headmaster had secured, mostly for Harry but also for himself, was an invitation to come back around again for tea. Mr. Slughorn even offered to give Harry some pointers on his Potions work when the Headmaster brought the topic up. Which, Merlin knew, Harry would need every ounce of help he could get to survive sixth year with Snape. So it wouldn't be a complete waste. And maybe he'd figure out whatever it was the Headmaster so plainly, desperately, wanted from the man. Because it was clear to Harry that he _needed_ something. Something he thought he could only get from Mr. Slughorn and something he thought Harry could manage.

It felt a bit underhand. A bit like a lie. Like one step further than anything they had done before. More manipulative. But it also felt, for once, like he was doing something useful. He didn't know how he felt about that. Didn't like how it was a mixture of elated and ashamed.

Of all of the times not to be able to talk to Sasuke about something! Harry had a feeling that his cousin would have all kinds of advice on how to get information out of someone who clearly didn't want to share. Whether that someone in this case was Slughorn or the Headmaster was up for some debate. Because even though the Headmaster had brought him along, and let him know they had a goal in mind, he still hadn't designed to share what the actual goal was.

In fact, the Headmaster made him pause before they Apparated back, putting a hand on his shoulder and peering down at him. "I must stress this, Mr. Potter. You must not speak of this to anyone. Not Mr. Weasley or Ms. Granger. And not to any of your new friends. I know you value your friends very highly, and they are a great benefit to you, but there are some matters that, for the protection of all involved, it is best not to share."

Harry hesitated. It was one thing to neglect to let Sasuke know he was going somewhere, it was another thing to intentionally hide something from him. Particularly something that looked like it was going to continue and go on for some time.

"Sasuke's going to eventually notice that I'm going somewhere if we come back again," Harry pointed out. Because while he respected the Headmaster's ability to arrange things to happen just the way he wanted them, Harry also had a very healthy respect for Sasuke's obsessive nature.

The Headmaster nodded but looked grim. "Yes, I'm afraid as much may be true. But this is Order business, Mr. Potter, and as happy as we are to have the assistance of the Konoha ninja, they are not a part of the Order. I need to know that you understand that and can be relied upon to do what is necessary."

Normally people just assumed Harry would be on board with whatever needed being done. Like it was a foregone conclusion that he would be right in the thick of everything. It was sort of nice to be asked? Or sort of asked. It was a bit late for the asking part, Harry supposed, but he was still being asked to keep the Headmaster's confidence. After a year of feeling constantly on the outside of everything that might destroy his life, the sudden change in role was hard to ignore.

"Alright," Harry finally agreed. "I won't tell him where we went, but I'm not going to lie to him either."

The Headmaster sighed. "This would be easier if you could perhaps use a bit of misdirection, but I suppose I will have to respect your decision. Thank you for your assistance tonight, Mr. Potter. I have great faith in you on this matter."

Which would be great if the Headmaster had explained a little bit more what exactly this matter was, but Harry let it go. He was more distracted trying to think of how he was going to keep this from Sasuke without blatantly lying to him. Neither of them ever enjoyed that very much, after all, the times before when Harry had tried fudging on the truth. And maybe it was a bit hypocritical of Harry to want to be in the know when it came to Order business and want to keep Sasuke as far away from all of this as possible. But the Headmaster was right. This was Order business. And as amazingly - and frighteningly - helpful as his cousin was, he still wasn't a wizard. Until they could figure out how to use magic, they'd be far too vulnerable. Harry would have to take care of this on his own.


	31. Chapter 31

The night before their first DA club meeting, Hermione cornered him in the library and asked to know what his plan was. Which was normal for Hermione and absolutely baffling for Harry.

"Plan?" he parroted back, trying to catch up on which one of the many things he was juggling at the moment that he was supposed to have a plan for. Team 7 insisted that despite not having magic, they still had infiltrating a magic school well in hand and had their own plan for how to deal with whatever might come. Which of course meant that Harry spent a lot of time worry about a backup plan for when theirs inevitably ran into the insanity that was Hogwarts and fell apart. Then there was also planning for his own training in trying to learn chakra. And trying to keep it a secret that he was sneaking out of the castle once a week without a group of highly trained and obsessive spies figuring it out.

That was all in addition to his normal worries. Such as having a plan for quidditch this year. And a plan for how to survive another year of Potions with Snape – that one focused mostly on not getting detention and less on actual academia. And he really did need to come up with a plan for how to manage Malfoy. The other boy had been far too quiet for him _not_ to be up to something. So really, there was a lot of plans to choose from. He just hoped she wasn't asking about his Charms homework, because honestly the only plan he had for that one was to wing it and hope for the best.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "DA club and your new friends. You do have a plan, yes? For how to make it look like they can actually cast spells and not just fail at everything?"

Right. That plan. He'd sort of been avoiding thinking about the disaster it was going to be having Professor Northstein and Team 7 in the same room again. Harry set aside the work he was already doing and rubbed at his temples. "I guess I'd figure that I'd do my best to keep Northstein busy somewhere else, then help them out on the side."

"And which spell do you plan on having them achieve?"

"Um, which spell do you think I should have them achieve?" Harry tried. Because when in doubt, ask Hermione.

And sure enough, she pulled out an entire list.

"You're the best," Harry told her with a grin, scooting over so they could study it together.

"Don't get too excited," she informed him. "This is going to be complicated." And she wasn't lying. Harry had had Qudditch planning sessions with less diagrams.

* * *

Northstein was used to running young witches and wizards through their paces. He may not have specialized in teaching young Aurors, but all Aurors took a turn at it. It was a time honored tradition to take the most eager of them down to the Ministry's dueling salle and run them ragged putting them through their paces. It reminded the young that the old still had something to bring to the table. It built character and helped develop comradery. It took the vain down a peg or two when needed and helped the weak learn to cover their blind spots or get forced out.

So a dueling club really was right up his alley, he supposed. Even if the students were meant to be the ones leading this little gathering, Northstein supposed it was only right that he be on hand to offer guidance and a sharp rebuke or two if needed.

What he could not even begin to fathom was why in the seven hells the foreigners had decided to come.

School had been in session for over a month now, and so far Northstein had seen nothing but incompetence, laziness, and a distinct lack of application. It seemed very much as if none of them knew even the first thing about magic – and even worse, that none of them had any intention of even trying to learn.

So Professor Northstein stared, aghast, as that man Kakashi came strolling into the hall. The man had a book up in front of his face and nearly knocked over some poor third year who crossed his path. He wasn't wearing a proper robe and he hadn't combed his hair. His students were little better. They at least had managed a proper wardrobe and were at least making an effort to talk to their classmates. Potter even made it a point of coming over to welcome them. The boy had shown a great deal of passion for his own development in the craft and in helping others, but Northstein feared he was going to be far out of his league with this lot.

Ridiculous, all of it. But people were saying Dumbledore was getting more and more questionable as the years crept up on him. Northstein roused himself from his comfortable position sitting on the sidelines. He had meant only to observe. A bit of professional oversight, as it were. But this simply could not stand.

Potter glanced over at him as he approached their huddle. He looked worried. There had been a touch of self-consciousness to him that evening that Northstein had not seen in classes. The boy seemed to be trying very hard to make this dueling group a success and it was just a pity that he had such complications to work with. Perhaps a good learning experience – there was always going to be at least one in every group – but Northstein didn't intend to let the boy get overwhelmed by it.

"Professor Hatake," Northstein announced as soon as he was close enough that using his firm Auror Voice would come off as just a touch more authoritative than normal and not sound like he was struggling to be heard. "I don't think this is an appropriate activity for your students."

"But Professor!" Potter yelped and Northstein waved him off.

"One first has to master the basics before you can start them on anything more advanced, Mr. Potter. I'm sure their time would be better spent focusing on their school work."

"We were told this was a study group," the girl replied.

Northstein frowned back at her. She seemed oblivious to the fact that there were plenty of good reasons for them not to be included. And in addition to that, she seemed to be ignoring what he thought was a perfectly clear message. "An _advanced_ study group, Ms. Haruno," Northstein corrected her. "For a level that none of you have managed to achieve.

"Oh, don't worry, professor!" Potter interrupted. "I'll make sure to keep an eye on them. We've been studying together and I'm sure they just need a little bit of extra practice. You'd be amazed how much progress we made last year with some of the others who were struggling."

Northstein could guess which ones those were, just by their fighting styles. And while he was impressed the Potter boy had taken such a keen interest in it, Northstein knew this wasn't going to end as well for anyone involved. But you could only lead the young so far. Sometimes they had to make their own mistakes.

"Fine. But keep them away from the others. I won't have them endangering anyone."

Potter flushed, perhaps now finally realizing the position he had put himself in. "We'll manage," he answered. "Hermione! Can you, um, help find a good spot for them to join in?"

The three strange students seemed disgruntled to be singled out from their peers but Northstein had very little pity for them. None of them seemed to be able to follow even the most elementary of instructions. There had been more than one mishaps in class already.

"Ehhh," drawled a voice from behind him. "They won't learn if you don't let them," the man complained.

Northstein snorted. "They aren't going to learn regardless. What are you lot teaching in those schools of yours? Ridiculous to assume the standards would be the same. The Headmaster should have placed you more accordingly to your actual skill levels."

The idiot man grinned back, too stupid to even be properly affronted to what was a rather scathing – yet much deserved – assessment of his character. "Hmm, I doubt the Headmaster has a level fitting for us. Might cause a bit of scandal if he did."

Scandal was one word for it. Northstein respected Dumbledore. He really did. He'd seen some of the work Dumbledore and his people had done during the last war. You couldn't ignore that kind of skill level or tenacity. But that didn't mean that the old man couldn't make some remarkable foolish decisions. There had to be some kind of political motive to it, Northstein just couldn't work out what. It was hard to imagine people like this having anything the British Wizarding world could need, but the Headmaster had certainly taken an interest. Maybe they had some old artifacts that would be better off in Britishing hands. Or something like that.

There was always some kind of political explanation for schemes like this. No choice but to put up with it as best he could. Northstein grunted and shook his head. Well, at best maybe it would teach Potter something about working with difficult people.


	32. Chapter 32

"Oh my god, I am so so sorry," Harry hissed. "I didn't have a choice. He insisted he had to be here."

Sakura wanted to roll her eyes at it all, but she was worried Harry might think she was directing it towards him. "It's fine," she promised. Naruto was busy making faces over his shoulder. It was juvenile and not at all subtle but she hoped it was as satisfying as it looked. "We are familiar with his objections."

Harry grimaced again, face flush with embarrassment. "He shouldn't talk to you like that. It's not your fault."

It wasn't, but Sakura wasn't enough of a child to think that had any bearing on the matter. It certainly did not help that Kakashi took advantage of every opportunity he could find to play the idiot. Team 7 was far too used to his tactics to truly be upset about it. Annoyed, maybe. Exasperate, certainly. But if Kakashi wanted to respond to the general disdain they had been receiving from much of the wizarding world by pretending to be a sexist, lazy, buffoon, then hopefully he had a reason for doing so. A very good one.

"It's fine," Sakura repeated.

Sasuke hadn't said a word. The repeated failures at magic were wearing on him. He wasn't used to having to work hard the way Sakura and Naruto did. Sasuke was normally naturally talented at something and _then_ worked hard to ensure he wasn't just talented but actually the best. He wasn't used to being stuck at square one for very long. More than one unpleasant DADA class had been followed up by a brief but vicious bout of sparring to work off his frustration.

Failure was not something Sasuke handled well. Idiots, on the other hand, he was more than used to ignoring. After all, he'd grown up with Naruto, trained under some of the most melodramatic narcissists around, and routinely had to sit in on clan meetings. Idiocy was something Sasuke had plenty of experience working around. Sakura doubted very much he even much noticed Northstein at all.

In fact, his first question was "what training are we doing?" and Sakura had to laugh. You could insult Sasuke until you were blue in the face and his only question would be when did training start? Harry looked relieved though.

He worried about them too much. Sasuke's cousin was far too kindhearted and too prone to treating setbacks as his own personal fault. And trying to argue with him about it only made it worse. A reality Sasuke was slowly learning to work around.

Though hopefully their performance tonight would go a long way towards taking some of that pressure off of them.

Harry grinned broadly, looking far more comfortable in his own element than she was used to seeing him. "Hermione came up with it," he told them proudly. "It's sort of so obvious I should have thought of it right away. What do you all do routinely that doesn't require any seals?"

"Punch things?" Naruto suggested. "Stab them? Steal something?"

"Talk too much," Sasuke grumbled.

"Use our creepy face to be a creep that makes other people go insane just by having to look at such creepiness?" Naruto snarked back.

Harry grimaced. "Okay, so none of that. Wow. Maybe Hermione's right, and I have spent too much time with you."

Sasuke scowled at the very notion and for a moment Sakura thought she might need to step in, literally, and stomp on his foot to keep him from doing anything foolish. Harry's friends hadn't received them as warmly as they would have liked, but it was clearly they were making an attempt. Mostly for Harry's sake, but they weren't actively working against Team 7. Sasuke was going to have to learn that sometimes that was enough. And that sometimes, big boys had to share their cousins with other people.

Thankfully, this was one of those times when Harry was in a good enough mood that he just shrugged off Sasuke's obviously poor manners. "Not like that," he sighed. "It's just funny how used to you all being kind of scary I am. I don't even think about it, honestly."

Damning with faint praise, but Sakura guessed they would have to take it. There were plenty of civilians who never were able to accept the kind of lifestyle being a nin was. Even her parents were much more likely to ignore that part of Sakura's life than ever talk to their daughter about it. Becoming a nin in a village like Konoha was usually considered a mark of honor, but that didn't mean every farmer or merchant understood it or embraced it.

"So what's the plan?" Sakura asked before this conversation could dissolve any further. Just because Harry was in a happy mood and inclined to overlook Sasuke's blunders didn't mean things would stay that way. They both did better when they had a goal to concentrate on and didn't get themselves tangled up in knots worrying about each other.

Harry grinned. "How's your sticking charms?" he asked loudly.

All three nin stared back. Their charms were nonexistent.

"Like, sticking to things or making other things sticky?" Naruto asked. "Because the first one's easy and I can think of about a dozen ways to make the latter happen, depending on how gross you want it to be or how much skin it's going to rip off to get free."

Harry wrinkled his nose. "Let's stick to _magic_ based sticking for now, okay? And not whatever unholy concoction you have for pranking people with."

"Spoil sport," Naruto grumbled but he was grinning from ear to ear.

Sticking "charms". Why did one of them think of that sooner? It was one of the first things they had learned as genin, came as naturally as breathing and barely took a thought. It would be easy to wave a wand a round and chant a special word and make something like that happen by sheer will. No magic needed, but to everyone else they would seem perfectly competent.

"Can you run a whole lesson plan just on that?" Sakura asked out of curiosity. There weren't many trees in this part of the world to leap to and from, and she had yet to see a wizard make good use of his full surroundings by walking on the walls or ceiling. If it wasn't a piece of magic commonly used, it wasn't going to do them much good.

But Harry was rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, eager to get started the way he was when they used to play games of 'tag' in the Konoha training fields. He liked being active and he could be fearless sometimes. "Hermione and I got you covered. We have a whole list of attacks and counter attacks based on sticking charms. And if you guys happen to suggest something practical and clever, well, it'd help make it look like you're participating, you know? Just don't do anything too flashy," Harry quickly added on.

"He means you, dobe," Sasuke muttered. It was clear that Harry's good mood had spread to him as well since that mild mannered grumbling was about as affectionate as he got. And Naruto knew it. So when he yelled back about teme's being showboats it was all in good fun and for once made them look far more like normal teenage boys than they had managed this entire mission.


	33. Chapter 33

Harry hurried through his homework as fast as possible. He'd sat down to get to work as soon as they had finished classes for the day, to the delight of Hermione who quickly joined him. Her enthusiasm faded somewhat when she realized that Harry's motivation wasn't so much dedication to his studies as trying to get it finished as fast as humanly possible. Even by his standards, he cut more than a few corners getting the essay due tomorrow 'finished' and his reading for potions was more a quick skim and the hope that enough would sink in to keep him from exploding a caldron, coupled with the bone deep knowledge that even if he studied it in detail it still wouldn't be enough to pass Snape's scrutiny.

"You're skipping an entire section!" Hermione bemoaned at one point as Harry flipped through his book.

"It's just sympathetic pairs," Harry reassured her. "I don't have to have that memorized for tomorrow and there'll be plenty of time to study it later."

"But-"

"Almost done with the chapter, 'moine, talk after!"

Except as soon as he finished, Harry hurried to shove all of his school work back in his bag. "I'm off!" he announced, both immensely grateful to be done already and sort of impressed with himself. That was the fastest he had ever gotten his assignments completed. Maybe he was getting better at juggling all of the different demands on his time.

"Harry Potter, you're not going to remember a thing you just read two minutes from now. In fact, I severely doubt you actually _read_ any of it. You mostly just flipped through the pages!"

"Close enough!" he called back as he rushed out the door. He had an hour before curfew and a lot to get done in the meantime.

Tonight was more training with Team 7. But Kakashi-sensei said he had a new plan for how to learn magic. He claimed it came to him doing their first DA meeting. Harry had just known that DA club was going to be what helped! So he was far too excited tonight to waste time on homework or feeling exhausted. They had a plan! Finally!

Too bad it was a really stupid plan.

"From now on, we're going to work on curses," Kakasi announced as if that made any sense or was in any way fundamentally unique from what they had been doing.

Harry normally enjoyed working on curses, hexes and protection against them. It was, after all, his favorite class and he had plenty of experience. But curses and Kakashi-sensei just seemed like a bad idea. "Maybe we should stick with something simpler?" Harry tried. "We still haven't managed basic charms yet." They hadn't managed _anything_ yet. "Curses are a bit more complex," Harry added diplomatically.

Kakashi seemed to find that entertaining. "Oh, no, we're not casting today. Clearly that isn't working. We're going to go back to the more straightforward way to learn a thing."

Harry glanced at his cousin but the other boy was scowling. That could mean anything, from he didn't think this was safe enough for Harry to participate in or it was going to be an embarrassment for the other boy or someone might actually die from it. Naruto, however, looked a bit like he'd eaten something bad and _that_ was not a good sign.

"What way's that, sir?" Harry asked carefully. He felt like he was back in potions or dealing with one of their more questionable DADA teachers. He wasn't going to like this, he just knew it, but he also knew the chances of him getting out of it were probably pretty slim.

Kakashi-sensei had one of the brown squib wands in his hand and was twirling it around. "Trying to figure magic out from this end isn't working. Time to try the other way around. You said you can use magic freely as long as you are in your school, yes? That you used to practice on your own frequently?"

"Yes, but about that – "

"Great! Time to test that out."

Harry looked around helplessly again. This was not how he had seen this morning going. He was happy to lead DADA club on his own, but this wasn't that. These weren't wizards and he still didn't understand how he was supposed to teach them more advanced magic when they couldn't even manage the basics. "I guess," he agreed hesitantly. He started to move away from the knot of the others, taking up a more open position that would allow him to curse harmlessly at the far stone wall without accidentally spilling over on the others. "We can go over Northstein's list again, if you want?" He suggested, warming up to the idea. It felt weird casting simple spells at a blank wall, but if watching him helped them out then Harry was on board.

"Great!" Kakashi said before moving to stand in front of Harry.

Harry's wand dropped back down immediately. "Um, Professor Kakashi?"

"Yes?"

Harry gritted his teeth. He didn't know what game the other man was up to now, but he didn't like it. Maybe long exposure to this man was why his cousin was always frowning. "You're sort of in the way. Sir," he tacked on at the end because he wasn't used to telling adults what to do but clearly it was something he was going to have to get used to.

Kakashi-sensei made a show of looking back and forth. "No, I'm not. Unless you think you can't hit me this far away," he added before deliberately taking one step closer, still centered right in front of Harry.

Harry huffed, before looking at his cousin for support. But Sasuke was watching both of them without even a hint that he found anything about this wrong. He almost seemed to be waiting patiently. No help there. Harry groaned in frustration before arguing "we've sort of already done this before, haven't we?" he asked, directing the question to Kakashi but hoping any of them would wise up.

Kakashi shrugged. "My lovely students have gotten knocked over a time or two. And while they've done an excellent job of balancing trying to looking merely stupid and not powerless, the situation hasn't really lent itself to a more focused approach. We have the time and space now, away from prying eyes."

Harry mulled that over. He could see why practicing in secret would help. No one liked an audience when they failed at something and it avoided awkward questions. "But I still don't understand why you want me to curse you. That doesn't seem helpful. Sort of the opposite really."

"For a civilian, maybe," Kakashi-sensei agreed and by that it was clear he meant someone like Harry. It wasn't the first time one of them had said something like that and Harry was learning not to take it personally. Most of the time. It still kind of rankled, like having the teachers or other Order members suggest he didn't know enough or should be involved in fighting Death Eaters. Like Harry hadn't done enough yet to prove himself.

"Nin learn differently," Kakashi explained. "And the most effective way a nin learns is through pain."

Harry grimaced and backed up. "No way."

"Now, now, don't be like that, Harry-kun. This isn't that much different than your own training on chakra. A little incentive to avoid bodily harm is a great motivator. I'm not asking you to do anything maiming. I don't trust you _that_ much," he added. "But training isn't training unless it might kill you. Trust me, the lessons sink in much faster that way."

Harry shook his head. "That's ridiculous! This is magic, not some kata you learn by repetition. You either can or can't do it. Banging your head against a wall isn't going to help."

"Really? Because your own texts suggest that children often do accidental magic when endangered."

Harry felt his stomach drop and turned to look at the research laden table with a new sense of dread. They may have been here for a while now, but Team 7 was still hindered by the limitations of the translating jutsu. How much reading could they have done? How much trouble could they have already gotten themselves into? The answer to that was plenty, judging by the ridiculous plan Kakashi-sensei had.

Kakashi rolled his one visible eye. "You can handle it," he ordered him. "We won't be able to keep this charade up much longer. It's time to try something more aggressive. Even if we can't duplicate it, knowing what we're up against will give us an edge in counteracting it. Or do you want the first time one of us runs into something like this to be on the battlefield?"

And damn it if it didn't sound really logical when Kakashi-sensei put it like that. Harry wasn't a fool, he was well aware that behind the buffoonery Kakashi liked to pretend at was a skilled manipulator. It was hard to argue with him when he was actually acting serious.

Harry looked to his cousin again but Sasuke only nodded. He clearly thought this was a good idea too. "Try something small," he suggested.

Kakashi-sensei huffed as if Sasuke was being ridiculous. "Fine. Something small to start with. We can work our way up."

Harry took a deep breath. A stunning charm should be fine, right? Kakashi-sensei wouldn't let him hurt him. It wasn't like he hadn't caught a friend or two with something during a duel. It just seemed worse because Kakashi wasn't even going to try to defend himself. If Kakashi-sensei thought this was the best way to learn magic, then Harry guessed he could at least try it out.

"_Petrificus Totalus_."


	34. Chapter 34

Naruto did his best to wait patiently. He'd scoped out the location and taken up position around the corner between a suit of amour and sculpture thingie. The amour was at least entertaining. It'd taken a few minutes to figure out how to get it apart – particularly since it objected to being dismantled. It took even longer to figure out how to put it on. The shoes were ridiculous and Naruto loved them and wanted his own. They were long and pointy and seemed to serve no logical purpose but he was sure he could manage to make 'em combat effective. But he got tired of clanking when he walked and had to put it back. More or less the way he found it. The sculpture had been boring. Just a bust of some old dead dude on a pedestal. He'd entertained himself for a while seeing how much he could wobble the pedestal without knocking over the bust, but finally had to give it up after the paintings started yellin' at him. It'd never _actually_ hit the ground, so he wasn't sure what their complaint was.

All around, magic was pretty cool, but it seemed to Naruto that far too much of it went into things that just ended up yellin' at him. He got enough of that from real people. He didn't need objects joining in too.

But Naruto had a very important task! So while the others might be enjoying their night roaming the castle grounds, finding new secret entrances or magical beasts in the forest, Naruto was stuck guarding his hallway.

It was a very boring hallway too. Nothing much happened here after midnight. All of the good little children stayed tucked in their beds. The teachers too. If it wasn't for Harry showing them all the places he'd snuck into over the years, Naruto would've thought nothin' ever happened here. He'd have been wrong though, and hadn't _that_ been an interesting conversation. Seems there wasn't too far of a stretch anywhere in this castle where Harry hadn't almost been killed by something. Giant snakes and trolls and possessed teachers and cursed teachers and murderous psycho teachers and apparently the Uchiha's had a consistent tradition of almost getting killed by their teachers.

Sasuke had about near blown a gasket. For someplace that was supposed to be the safest place in Wizarding Britain, it sure did try to kill Harry a lot.

Hence Naruto's very important mission! Harry might insist there was nothin' to worry about but any nin worth their kunai knew that just because it seemed everyone was out to get ya didn't mean they weren't. And clearly, _everything_ _was _trying to kill Harry.

In the distance, Naruto could hear one of the moving stairs shift once more. But instead of moving above or below it stopped at this floor and Naruto quickly returned all forms of entertainment to their proper place and did his best to become one with the shadows. Sasuke didn't think Naruto could handle a bit of stealth! Well! Naruto would show him! This was Naruto's _specialty_ after all!

The stairs were on the far side of the hall, but it didn't take long for there to be the soft shuffle-slide of smooth shoes on stone floors. _Someone_ was clearly makin' an attempt not to make noise. Pity they were doing such a poor job of it. Naruto bit the inside of his cheek, waiting as patiently as he could, breath held until –

It wasn't fireworks. Or gun power. Or even a bucket full of marbles. Technically, Naruto wasn't supposed to be out wandering the halls either, so he certainly didn't want to draw too much attention. Oh, no. He went _understated_ this time. A nice quiet splat.

Naruto slapped a hand over his mouth, trying not to giggle. Sometimes, you just had to go back to the basics. Especially when Harry said they couldn't use lethal force against a fellow student. But that didn't mean Naurto couldn't be _very _effective at makin' someone's life miserable. Just to be sure though, Naruto leaned around the suit of armor and took in his good work.

Green might be traditional for slime, but Naruto found a nice dingy mysterious brown did wonders on the psychic. So many possibilities. Was it mud? Was it rotted vegetation? Was it snot? _Was it something worse?_ The mind was quick to go to the worst place imaginable and judging by the look on the other boy's face, he was mentally working through all of the possibilities as it dripped down from his head and slowly slid over his shoulders. The boy tried wiping it off. It was a reflexive move to make. And Naruto had been banking on it. Earth based chakra might not be his strong suit, but Naruto still knew how to knock a few things together. What had dripped easily downward onto his victim was quickly becoming viscous. So viscous, in fact, that when Draco Malfoy tried to wipe it off from his face, instead his hand became stuck. Oh, he could pull it back an inch or two, but it took effort and as soon as he stopped actively pulling, it went slamming back with a wet dull thwack.

Naruto nearly choked. Subtle. He had to be subtle. He knew damn well how to play a prank and not get caught. Make the boy's life miserable but not actually give the game away.

Which was all going swimmingly – for the record – right up until Malfoy tried to magic it away.

The thing about pranking nin was you had to take one of two forms. Either you went purely physical. A bit of slapstick humor that only worked because it was so unexpected. The bucket of water over a door. A squeaky toy where it was least expected. That kind of thing. Or you had to go big. Chakra tags were a bitch to make on your own, but Naruto had been perfecting them since he was a kid. Compounds were the same. You couldn't just mix dirt and water together and hope to get something impressive. It took a bit of finangling. A judicial application of chakra – as Sakura liked to put it. It had to have just enough energy to hold itself together and do something impressive, but not enough to set off a nin's sense of danger. It was a fine art that Naruto was the freakin' _master_ at.

Except they were still kind of sort of figuring out how Chakra and Magic mixed together.

Harry did well enough. Sure, he wasn't going to be flinging around jutsu's any time soon, but he was getting better and better at not getting bowled over by Kakashi-sensei in training. And while Naruto was severely bummed out that a wand was probably not ever gonna do anything for him, he was getting better at dodging. At being able to feel what magic felt like when it tried to grab ahold of ya. You just had to know how to move to get away from it and you could totally dodge at least half the time. Good odds in his book. Harry didn't think it was good enough to survive a wizard fight, but Harry was a bit twitchy.

The chakra in Naruto's sludge wasn't going to dodge anything. And apparently, when certain forms of chakra met certain forms of magic, unexpected things could happen. Naruto knew that. He just didn't expect the damn stuff to catch fire.

There was an actual whoosh! as Malfoy went from being a disgruntled nefarious school boy to someone's idea of a living torch – bright white fire roaring to life from the shoulders up. It matched his hair, Naruto thought. Naruto also flung himself around the corner and tackled the boy with the fastest, most slapdash water jutsu he could come up with. The two of them went crashing hard to the stone floor. Malfoy was a tangle of awkward limbs beneath him as Naruto kept himself brace above, hands already frantically checking the damage.

"Son of a whore bastard!" Malfoy screeched.

Well. That was good. If he had enough air left in his lungs to start questioning Naruto's parentage, then he couldn't be hurt too badly. Harry was gonna kill them if Naruto accidently maimed or killed another student. And Sasuke would give him hell for it, even though in this particular case, Naruto suspected Sasuke wouldn't mind an 'accident.'

"Oh my god is your face still whole? Did it melt off? Are you a meat face now? If so, I totally did not do it."

Malfoy made another one of those high pitched noises and flapped his arms at Naruto. The damage seemed surprisingly limited. A bit of redness on the nose. Hair about an inch shorter and crumbling along the edges. Collar soot stained. Not the end of the world by any means. Naruto heaved a heartfelt sigh and patted the boy on the check. "No harm, no foul?" he chirped before realizing that the frantic scrambling beneath him was apparently the other boy's attempt to throw him off. Oh, right.

Naruto hopped back up to his feet. He was glad he didn't think to offer a hand up, because Malfoy went scrambling backwards with such force and flailing limbs that he might have actually gotten in a lucky shot to the face if Naruto had tried.

"Wow, you're high-strung."

Draco snarled. It was a much more impressive reaction. Almost on level with dear Sasuke-kun on a good day or Sakura when you woke her up wrong. Naruto was almost impressed. And the little shit even tried to fight back. The first rule, however, with wizards was they were shit at hand to hand. Once you got close enough to grapple, shit was pretty much over. From a distance, they could hex and jinx you three ways from Sunday. Naruto had watched Harry take down even Kakashi-sensei enough times to know that. But have one of them try to draw a wand on you with only a few feet of distance in between you? That was going to be over before it had even really begun. Naruto grabbed him by the wrist, twisted slightly, pulled just enough to stretch the arm, and ducked in close enough to give a gentle love tap to the kid's ribs.

To give him credit, he didn't actually drop his wand. But he also didn't have the best grip on it while he was wheezing for air and Naruto was able to knock it out of his grip easily enough. "Now, now, let's be friendly about this, no?" Naruto told him. "Doubt either us wants the teachers getting involved, eh?"

"You attacked me, you filthy heathen! I ought to-"

"_Me_?" Naruto gasped dramatically, laughing even as he let the boy go. "Why I was just lost tryin' to get back to my rooms - confusing big castle, you know - when I happened to see you set yourself on fire! My goodness! Whatever must have possessed you to do such a thing! Inexplicable! Astounding! Moronic!"

Malfoy tried to shove him away but mostly just managed to push himself back. It gave him the space he so desperately seemed to want, but he did fail to pick up his wand in the process, which _really?_ Thank goodness Harry had better reflexes than that. Kid never let his wand out of his possession. Malfoy however seemed distracted by the ashy ends of his floppy hair. There was another one of those noises. Like an animal getting stepped on. What a funny sound of pure rage. "I'm _damaged_!" the kid hissed. Like he had any idea what real damage looked like.

"Seems like an improvement to me," Naruto fired back smugly.

And oh boy, there was a look that could kill. The kid might be funny to rile up but that there was the look of an animal that would gladly rip Naruto's throat out if given a chance. Naruto tried not to feel for the kid. He'd met a lot of balls of rage that wanted nothing more than to _do_ something. He understood that kind of frustration. After all, whose brilliant idea was it to put this kid back in school with the person his father tried to kill? Did no one think that might not lead to a wee bit of resentment and animosity? Nin would throw down for far less than that and they _remembered_ shit far far longer. There was a reason nin villages kept separate and a reason why every nin within the same village was expected to bury the damn hatchet. Feuds never ended well for anyone.

So yes, Naruto could kind of feel for the kid. And maybe if this was a different kind of mission, he'd take the time to get to know him. Give him hell, of course, but figure out what was driving him just as much as was driving anyone else. People didn't just do things for no reason – no matter how much it might feel like it. So if Malfoy had been making a habit out of wanderin' the castle at night, putting his nose where it didn't belong and potentially lookin' for a way to attack Harry – there was probably a good reason. One Naruto was supposed to find out without letting the kid know they were on to him. But letting him burn seemed like a bad idea too and since subtle had kind of already gone out the window at this point...

Sasuke was going to give him _such_ hell.

"Well, then. That was fun. Let's not do it again, eh? Time to call it a night!"

And props to him. The kid had just gotten set on fire and been knocked on his ass and was missing his wand, but he still got up in Naruto's face like he thought he was going to do something about it. "If you think for one second I'm not going to- "

Naurot held up his hands in the most condescendin' manner he could manage. "Do _you_ wanna go see a teacher? I mean, we could, I guess. Kakashi-sensie's going to sigh so loud though, if he finds out about this. It'll be tragic. Really. I can only imagine how _your _teachers would react. I mean, a couple of students scuttling about in this weird hallway for no reason doing who knows what. So many questions."

And damn if that didn't shut someone up. Naruto grinned back, showing as many teeth as he could. "I didn't think so. See ya around, matchstick! Try not to get into any trouble in the meantime, eh? I would so hate to have to come save your ass again."

Malfoy cursed again but took the opportunity to snatch up his wand as soon as Naruto started moving back down the hall. And here was the tricky part. Never turn your back on an armed opponent and all that, but Naruto didn't really wanna spend all night talkin' to this idiot. So as soon as Malfoy ducked to grab his weapon, Naruto pivoted sharply on one heel and darted around the corner before the other boy could get straightened back up again. As it was, a nice splash of bright light slammed into the far wall after him. Naruto cackled and cheerfully made his way back home. He might have tipped their hand a bit more than they would have liked, but hopefully he taught someone a good lesson.

Malfoy might now know they were watching him, but that also meant Malfoy was going to be flinching and lookin' over his shoulder for them everywhere he went. A bit of nudging and prodding and they could probably keep him running in circles for _months_.


	35. Chapter 35

Harry rolled his shoulder carefully, feeling something pop just enough to be uncomfortable but not actually painful. Practice was still going poorly for everyone involved. Kakshi-sensei had them alternating days. Half the time Harry would spend all evening casting spell after spell at the nin, wincing every time they couldn't manage to dodge one fast enough. They insisted that it wasn't that bad, but Harry had been on the receiving end of that kind of training before. It always hurt. But Kakshi-sensei insisted this was the best way to learn anything. That the only way they were going to figure out how to actually manipulate magic was if they were forced into it. Harry wasn't so sure about that, but he didn't have any other good ideas.

Learning chakra wasn't going much better. Harry had been knocked down more times than he could remember. He would have had bruises on top of bruises if Sakura hadn't been patching him up as best she could. But he was getting better at being able to feel what kind of elements went into a jutsu. He couldn't make his own yet. Every time he tried it was just a burst of energy and nothing more. But he was getting better at pulling apart anything sent his way. Kakashi-sensei insisted that was progress and even Sasuke looked pleased.

But man was it tiring.

"Alright there, Harry?" Seamus asked over that morning's eggs and toast. He was shoveling in food in as he stared at Harry.

Harry yawned. "Fine. Why wouldn't it be?"

Seamus kept staring at him. "Haven't seen you around much and you look like shit."

"Gee, thanks," Harry grumbled back. He tried not to take it personally. He did kind of feel like shit, so it was probably an accurate assessment.

"You'd tell us if anything was going on, though, won't you Harry?" Seamus continued.

"I guess?" Harry answered. He wasn't in the habit of confiding closely with Seamus but they were yearmates and he was an active part of the DA club. Harry wouldn't not tell him something any more than he wouldn't not tell anyone else, he supposed.

"Right," Seamus agreed, and Harry was starting to feel like they were having two different conversations. "Just give a heads up if you can, if it's all about to go sideways on us. And maybe take a nap or something. Just looking at you is making me need one."

Harry nodded, because he wasn't sure what else he could do. He then turned to Ron on his other side and gave him a look that he hoped clearly communicated the absolute bizarreness of that conversation. Instead of looking just as perplexed as Harry was, Ron was scowling down at his rashers as if they had personally offended him.

"What?" Harry asked. Because clearly he was missing something around here and Ron could usually be counted on to tell him exactly what. Or at least commiserate with him on being out of their depth.

"It's nothing," Ron muttered. "At least, I hope it is?" He looked up and stared at Harry intently. "I mean, you _would_ tell us if something was going on, wouldn't you?" he asked.

And Harry' stomach sank. They'd been back in school for a couple of months now, and for the most part Harry thought he had been doing a very good job of balancing everything. The nin hadn't questioned his whereabouts at all and he hadn't even had to lie to Sasuke once yet. They simply assumed he was safely tucked away in the Gryffindor tower with his classmates. While Ron and Hermione generously assumed he was with Team 7 and didn't pester him about wanting to spend more time with his cousin. In fact, no one had noticed that Harry was sneaking off once a week to hunt down Tom Riddle's secrets and try to understand what dark magic he must have used.

Up until now, at least. Ron was watching him closely, like he expected some sort of clue to appear on Harry's face. Getting stared at like that made Harry's skin burn with shame and worry that there was something clearly written across his face that he was a liar and a sneak. But this was Order business. Surely Ron and Hermione would understand! Wouldn't they?

"It's nothing," Harry reassured him. "Just a bit tired, you know. Sasuke and the others are a lot to keep up with."

Ron frowned like that was exactly the response he had not wanted to hear. "You aren't letting them push you too hard, are you? I know you're really invested in this, but there's limits, you know? Maybe you should take a night off or something."

Except there wasn't enough nights as it was to fit everything in. "It's fine," Harry insisted. We're really getting somewhere, I think. I just have to try a little harder."

Ron snorted. "You try much harder and you're gonna hurt yourself."

Which was ridiculous. This was important. So what if he was a little tired and banged up? Harry had dealt with worse and probably would again. At least this was for something important.


	36. Chapter 36

Tea with Slughorn had become a regular part of Harry's schedule. He somehow managed to fit it in in between things like DA club, Chakra training, hanging out with Ron and Hermione - and oh, yeah, classes. The Headmaster was always very discrete in summoning him. They didn't need any of the nin asking questions so they made sure there was never a need to. It wasn't unheard of for Harry to spend some time with the Headmaster. And if that time happened to involve leaving the castle or studying what dark magic Tom might have used - well, no one else needed to know that.

And having tea with old Slughorn wasn't that bad, really. It was sometimes a bit creepy the way he'd talk about Harry's parents, but Harry had long ago resigned himself to everyone else knowing far more about them than he ever would. And there was something sort of sad about Mr. Slughorn. He seemed to rarely leave the house - more content to think back on all of the famous people he had met before and not on what was happening in the world right now. Harry wouldn't say he looked forward to their teas, but he found he really didn't mind them so much. Slughorn did have some interesting stories and was more than happy to give him pointers on his potions homework. And every now and then, he'd let something slip about the one star pupil of his he _didn't _like to talk about.

The Headmaster's plan seemed to be working. Slughorn almost seemed to want to tell them what they needed to know. Just a few more meetings and they'd finally have something.

Which of course meant that was when everything fell apart.

It was a late night in the middle of the week. Harry had dutifully gone to training with the nin after dinner. Harry was getting better at dodging jutsus and had even managed to divert the more elemental based ones. The nin were ecstatic, convinced that they were finally making headway. Harry was just glad to be able to leave training a little less bruised and singed than he had before. The others might be better at shrugging off getting banged up and hexed, but Harry sure felt like he was constantly one giant ache. It hadn't taken much to convince the others that he was going to do no more than fall into bed at the first opportunity. It was pointless for one of them to follow him back up to his common room if all he was going to do was go to sleep.

The hard part had been convincing _himself _not to do just that. Instead he had trudged up to the Headmaster's. If Slughorn thought it was odd that they only came around for tea practically in the middle of the night, he never commented on it. Harry got the impression the other man didn't sleep much anyway. He always looked like he'd had one too many cups of strong tea himself but he always insisted on a couple more. Harry, at least, needed it to stay awake. He'd been up late the night before with another DA meeting and he had a stack of homework almost as high as his head to get through before Friday.

Walking back up the drive, Harry had been more focused on keeping on his feet and trying to figure out which thing he needed to get done next. He had a Charms essay due soon, but the Headmaster at least had some helpful hints on what topics to look into. At least he wouldn't have to start from scratch if he already knew what books he'd need. The Headmaster was telling him something about a poorly charmed footstool when Harry jerked to a stop, suddenly aware in the way Sasuke had tried to drill into his head.

At first there was nothing. Just the wide open field and driveway leading up to the castle. They were only halfway up the drive and the sprawling darkness around them seemed only the deeper compared to the cheerful lanterns framing the school's main door. Harry couldn't see a thing in the dark, but he also knew the way he sometimes _knew _where the snitch was that they were no longer alone. Then Naruto came rushing out of the dark . A sudden blur of bright orange and blond that never should have been able to hide even in the pitch dark but somehow had. He came running up on them from the left, bounding up to the main drive before skidding to a stop directly in front of them.

For a moment Harr felt nothing but relief. It was just Naruto. His nerves must really be starting to fray if he was jumping at shadows like that. But then it sunk in. Naruto. Out looking for something in the dark of night and finding Harry not where he was supposed to be.

"Harry-kun!"

"Oh, dear," the Headmaster murmured. It was a far more reserved reaction than the one Harry was having but the Headmaster was much better at keeping his head in these situations. Clearly. Because while Harry gapped helplessly, a heavy ball of dread sinking so low in his stomach it was a miracle he could stand under the pressure of it, the Headmaster did his best to spin their way out of this. "Mr. Uzumaki! What a surprise to see you here. Shouldn't you be settling in for the night?"

Naruto's eyes widened and he looked back and forth between the two of them. "I? What! How!" The last part was nearly wailed.

Harry uselessly tried to hush him, as if that could somehow defuse what was bound to be a truly impressive stream of exclamations from the loudest ninja. As if Harry could somehow sweep this all back under the rug if he kept Naruto quiet enough. As if Naruto wasn't going to tell Sasuke the first chance he got. "No worries, no worries! We'll just walk up together, okay? Did you, um, get lost?"

"DID I GET LOST?!" Naruto yelled. "You! You were missing and Sasuke's freakin' and your friends haven't seen ya, and the girl's blaming us, and this place is freaking huge and we haven't even gotten to all of the rooms and we thought you were bleeding out in a ditch or closet or at the bottom of some well or something! DID _I_ GET LOST?!"

"A simple misunderstanding!" the Headmaster jovially announced and Harry couldn't help but be impressed at that level of calm and collected in the face of what had to be the most vocal encounter possible.

"Argh!" Naruto yelled back at him as if that was a reasonable response. And maybe it was. Harry kind of got the impression that there were a lot of times that people want to respond that way to the Headmaster. "You!" Naruto demanded, pointing at Harry. "Hurt? Bleeding? Harmed in anyway?"

"No, no-"

"Currently being pursued?"

"No, nothing like that!"

"Caught a chill?"

"I-" Harry cut off confused. A chill? It took him a moment to realize that Naruto meant the cold night air. "Naruto, I'm fine."

"Good," Naruto declared before pulling out a knife and stabbing himself.

It didn't matter how many times Harry saw it, it never stopped him from instinctively jerking to reach out and try to stop him. Thank god for the poof of smoke that followed immediately. It hid the image for the most part but Harry knew that an echo of it was still going to make an appearance in one or more of his nightmares.

The Headmaster actually snapped out a disarming spell. Harry jerked reflexively away from the spell, turning to stare a bit wide-eyed at him. The Headmaster so rarely used magic in public other than for simple charms or parlor tricks. But he held his wand like a duelist even if he looked a bit chagrined at trying to stop a shadow clone from dispelling itself.

Harry hadn't even thought to draw his wand.

"It's okay, sir," Harry murmured, suddenly remembering that this was probably the first time that the Headmaster had seen a jutsu at all, much less this one. Team 7 was so used to it, they barely thought of how impressive it was. Or how disturbing it could be. "That wasn't really Naruto, just a shadow of himself. He doesn't even feel it. Naruto uses them all the time to run errands and check out stuff so he doesn't have to. I just hope Hermione doesn't ever figure out how to make them, we'd never get her to stop studying."

It wasn't his best joke, but it was enough to get a wan smile out of the Headmaster. "I must say," he commented quietly, after his wand had once more disappeared from his hand. "It is one of the more unsettling pieces of magic I've ever seen. I do not think I care to see that again, with any student."

"I know, sir. It's okay."

It was okay, if rather awkward now. What had the Headmaster thought was happening? How startling that must have been. And it didn't seem right to catch the man off guard like that. No quite fair. And unpleasant to see one's role models knocked down like that. Besides, he was an old man. What if they'd accidentally given him a heart attack? Could that happen to wizards? It wasn't like Harry could ask the Headmaster if he was alright. That would only make it worse.

"We…better head up?" he tried instead.

"Yes, of course."

It was like heading towards his own doom, but Harry didn't have a whole lot of choice, did he? he had warned the Headmaster that Sasuke would figure this out eventually. He had just privately hoped that eventually might be much further in the future. They were almost getting somewhere with Slughorn! Just a couple more visits and they maybe could have stopped all together. Not that Harry thought that would be the end of it. This was just one piece in the puzzle and the best it was going to do was lead them to the next one. But it would have been nice to avoid this fight just a little bit longer. The trudge up to the front door was silent and exhausting but unfortunately very short. They hadn't gotten very far before they could see another figure rapidly approaching, heading straight for them from the school.

"Order business," the Headmaster murmured quietly. Harry didn't need or appreciate the reminder. Not with Sasuke descending on him in all of his admittedly righteous fury. Harry braced himself for a great deal of yelling. He hadn't expected to be all but tackled.

Sasuke came rushing towards them and he didn't stop till he had his hands clasped tightly on Harry's shoulders. He didn't bowl Harry over only because he jerked to a sudden and precise halt mere inches from Harry, so close their knees almost collided. Which was probably a very good thing because Harry was fairly certain that at the speed Sasuke had been going that would have hurt. It never stopped being impressive how fast they could move. They insisted it wasn't a jutsu, that it was merely training and good body energy. Harry knew damn well it was fueled by magic and it was maybe the one thing he wanted to master the most.

It must feel just like flying.

But Sasuke didn't look ecstatic the way Harry always felt moving at those speeds. Instead, he looked like someone who had been flying high only to unexpectedly plummet to the ground. Like someone who had managed to pull up at the very last minute. Not happy so much as still cresting the high of some very serious panic.

"I'm okay!" Harry yelped, because he did have some common sense.

"No," Sasuke argued. Except he didn't sound like he was in denial so much as he very much did not agree. This close Harry could see the sharringan activated and it made it hard to look directly back at Sasuke. Instead he focused just to the right, staring at one ear and hoping the Headmaster hadn't noticed that little detail in the dim light. They had agreed no sharringan here, but apparently Sasuke had forgotten that little detail.

"Eyes," Harry muttered.

Sasuke checked _Harry's_ eyes first before it seemed to click what Harry had meant. With a blink, Sasuke went back to normal and that made it infinitely easier to actually talk to the other boy.

"Sorry we were out so late," Harry tried again. "But really, I'm okay. Nothing happened."

"No," Sasuke gritted out again. "That is where you're wrong. Something did happen. You let someone take you out of our protection. I failed to prevent such a thing from happening. You are not okay."

"Yes, I am!"

Sasuke snarled. "If you were okay, something like this never would have been possible! So no, you are not okay and it is not okay!"

Which really wasn't fair! Just because Harry didn't do what Sasuke had wanted him to do didn't mean there was something wrong with him. But Harry wasn't sure how to even argue that point without drawing more attention to everything he wasn't supposed to tell his cousin. What could he say, that they went out for ice cream? "I'm fine," Harry grumbled, repeating the one thing he had and hating how he sounded like a broken record. It maybe wasn't fair for him to be annoyed at Sasuke, but that didn't make this any easier.

"Perhaps you should move this conversation inside, gentlemen," the Headmaster declared. "I believe it is past curfew by now."

Sasuke jerked around to glare at him like he had personally desecrated the family home. He still hadn't let go of Harry's shoulders, however, and his grip tightened like he thought he could physically force some sense into him. "You had no right!" he hissed at the Headmaster.

"Young man," Dumbledore replied, sounding far more serious. "I think you will find that I did. And that Harry did as well. The right to make his own choices, that is. We all appreciate your efforts to help ensure Harry's safety, but I will remind you that you are not the one _officially_ charged with his safety, and while he is a student at this institution, I am."

Sasuke growled back and Harry quickly grabbed onto his arms to keep him in place. They did not need Sasuke fighting with the Headmaster. "It's my fault, Sasuke. Can we talk about this inside, please?" Harry would rather never talk about it, but sometimes you just had to let the other person yell at you some and swallow it all down. It was easier. Harry could manage it, he'd had plenty of practice before. It wasn't going to be fun, but he could do it.

The Headmaster nodded as if that decided everything and turned to make his way back. Sasuke glared after him and didn't move at first. He still had a tight grip on Harry's shoulders. Not quite enough to hurt, but it was getting close. Harry squeezed back before letting go, hoping he'd get the hint.

Sasuke didn't.

"It really is okay," Harry whispered, feeling like the worst friend ever. He wasn't used to having to hide things from the people he cared about. Ron and Hermione worried about him, sure, but they'd mostly be annoyed that he had gone without them. They'd have trusted that he'd be okay as long as he was with the Headmaster. But Sasuke sure as hell didn't feel that way. Harry had never seen someone this scared about him.

Sasuke stared at him. He wasn't scowling anymore, but there was nothing else about him that suggested he wasn't still fuming mad. His jaw was clenched hard enough Harry could see it and his shoulders were pulled tight. The sharringan was thankfully gone, but he still stared at Harry like this was a battle and he was trying to figure out how to win.

"Never again," Sasuke declared finally. And it almost sounded like that was his idea of offering forgiveness, of extending a compromise, and not an order.

Of course it had to be for the thing Harry couldn't promise.

Sure, he could say the words, but he knew it wasn't going to be the last time he did something like this. Not now. This was part of what life was like for him. He had responsibilities now that he was back in the Wizarding world. And Harry couldn't walk away from that, but at the same time he couldn't drag Sasuke into this. And not only because Dumbledore told him he couldn't. As long as Sasuke couldn't perform any magic, he'd always be at a disadvantage against a wizard. Sure, he had the speed and the strength, but that wasn't going to be enough against an Unforgivable.

So Harry said nothing.

Sasuke cursed before turning away suddenly and stalking back up to the castle, one hand still tangled in the shoulder of Harry's shirt as if he thought someone was going to try pulling him away.


	37. Chapter 37

Harry did not resist being towed along like an errant child. Except that analogy was not quite right, was it? Harry was not some child that was prone to wandering off after sweets or who was not good at listening when told to stay put. That was far too mild of a comparison. He was a client who thought he knew better than his nin guard and got himself killed. He was the soldier brought up on charges for endangering the rest of the team by disobeying orders and dashing off at the worst time. Worse, he was the soldier who tried to be a hero, instead of clever, and merely ended up another stupid name on a rock. He was the cousin that Sasuke valued more than anything else in the world, who had intentionally left the meager protection Sasuke had managed to provide, to do something that could have gotten him killed. That still might. That possibly would the next time.

Naruto was waiting by the front door, likely the real one this time and not one of his many clones. He had sent out dozens of them as soon as they had realized Harry was missing. Hopefully he had had the common sense to keep them hidden from the rest of the school, but Sasuke did not know for sure, and he did not have the mental ability right now to even care. Naruto was sometimes just as foolish and infuriating and suicidal as Sasuke's cousin was and right now Sasuke only had the capacity to manage one of them at a time. But if there was any reasonable way of blaming Naruto for this, Sasuke might be tempted to try. Harry had always liked Naruto more. Clearly, they both recognized another goddamn moron when they saw one.

And then there was this Headmaster! Sasuke knew a fucking lying snake when he saw one. The man clearly did not care at all about Harry's safety or about maintaining his protection – and worse – he had somehow convinced Harry of the same! Not just convinced, but completely exploited. Team 7 should have been the people Harry trusted most in the world. The ones he turned to at the slightest hint of need. Not this charlatan who clearly was only interested in his own agenda. Sasuke had seen this kind of thing before. At times, suspected even Kakashi of it. Commanders usually became commanders because they were willing to sacrifice others when needed to complete the mission. The fact that that was not the way Team 7 worked was an anomaly. Probably a sign of mental retardation of one or more of their members. The exception that only proved the rule. No one else had a reason to value Harry's life like that and it was clear that no one else could be trusted to even pretend otherwise.

And Harry was not a soldier. Had never been a soldier. And if Sasuke had anything to say about, or had to climb over everyone's dead bodies to make it so, Harry would never be a soldier. He was not a chess piece for someone else to play with in their game of war. Sasuke had seen this play out before. He knew what happened to the pieces in it, even when you did 'win'.

Naruto was dancing from one foot to another by the time they reached the front door. His eyes kept flickering back and forth between Sasuke and Harry, but for once in his life he kept his big mouth shut. Which was good, because as furious as Sasuke was right now, if Naruto said _anything_, even something Saasuke agreed with, they would still probably come to blows. The Headmaster did not spare the other boy even a glance, but he did pause when the Deputy Headmistress came hurrying out to greet them.

"Are you alright?" The woman demanded brusquely as she came to a sudden stop. Her stance was still as rigid as any clan's matriarch, but her robes were tangled at the hemline as if she had been running. At least someone else seemed to have her priorities straight! But that vindication was soured by the very real concern Sasuke heard in her voice when she made it a point to ask "Mr. Potter, do you require any medical attention?"

What the hell. Sasuke let go of the hold he had on his cousin just enough to perform another quick assessment. Nothing obvious, but head wounds could never be ruled out and there might be other internal damage or even poisoning. The woman obviously thought there was need for concern.

Even if Harry looked confused at the question. "No?"

"Professor McGonagall, I did inform you that I would have need of Mr. Potter's assistance tonight. I assure you, there was nothing that might require Poppy's attentions. Honestly! I'm beginning to feel like no one in this school trusts me with providing basic protection."

The woman flushed and pressed her lips into a firm line. "I certainly did not mean to imply as much, Headmaster. Thank goodness you were with Mr. Potter. There's been a…development I suspect you are not aware of and I've been trying to reach you since the word came in. Horace Slughorn is dead."

Sasuke did not know who the hell Horace Slughorn was or why he mattered but Harry was suddenly returning Sasuke's firm grip like he was trying to hold on. It was the most afraid Sasuke had seen Harry since the night wizards had attacked them in Konoha. Harry started to ask something, his eyes fixed on the old man and his face pale, but the Headmaster intentionally cut him off.

"That's enough discussion for now. This is not the time nor the place."

Harry flinched but nodded and Sasuke seriously considered jabbing a kunai in the old man's throat.

But wizards were apparently oblivious to killing intent, or else this bastard thought he had nothing to fear. He started up the stairs, calling out behind him as he went. "Professor McGonagall, if you would join me in my office. Mr. Potter, I assume you can find your way back to your dorm room immediately." He did not give any instructions for Sasuke or Naruto. Maybe he wasn't as stupid as he seemed.

In a moment, it was just the three of them standing in the dark and the flickering torch light in front of the castle's main doors.

"Sakura's on her way," Naruto offered quietly. "She's been trying to wheedle information out of the servants."

Sasuke nodded once.

"You okay, Harry?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

Harry had not let go of Sasuke's arm. He did not even seem aware that he was clasped on to it.

"Harry?" Naruto repeated when he got no response.

"What? Oh. Yes. I'm – I'm fine. I guess. Just…"

Upset. Surprised. Afraid. "Who is Horace Slughorn?" Sasuke demanded. Harry had been worried before on the walk up. Unhappy with Sasuke and stubbornly reticent on what the hell was going on, but still responsive and confident. Whoever this person was, hearing of their death had shaken him greatly. Sasuke gritted his teeth, feeling like everything was suddenly spiraling out of his control.

"I don't know," Harry demurred. It was a fairly decent attempt at lying, but Sasuke had spent an entire summer watching every tick of his cousin's. He knew his unhappy faces, his nervous looks and every fake mien he used when he did not want someone to know the truth. Beyond that, a person did not look like that when someone they did not know died. Sasuke knew for a fact that Harry was no stranger to death. So it wasn't a stranger's demise that did this to him.

"Harry," Naruto chided. He had not missed the lie either but he looked more disappointed than infuriated the way Sasuke was.

"I don't want to talk about it," Harry muttered and pulled away. He seemed to suddenly realize he was the one holding on to Sasuke not the other way around and he let go with a jerk. "Can we go to bed now? I have classes in the morning."

"No."

It was the kind of ultimatum that Sasuke had never been able to issue without sending Harry into a fit of denials and stubbornness. But instead of pushing back, or even rolling his eyes at him, Harry just sighed.

It was not a sigh of agreement or even capitulation.

Sasuke had just barely managed to keep his frustration to himself. He wanted to shake his cousin. Physical grab him and push and shove and smack him until he had to pay attention to what Sasuke was saying. That was how people learned things – really learned them. They had to feel it in their bones and the bruises that lasted afterwards. Maybe Sasuke had been too soft on his cousin. He had thought they had come to an understanding about this kind of thing. Harry was not allowed to keep secrets from Sasuke. Secrets got people killed.

Naruto seemed to take Harry's uncharacteristic lack of response as a much better sign than Sasuke and Sasuke had just enough control left to let him take point on this. Harry responded so much better to Naruto's ridiculous notions of cooperation and friendship and fidelity. "Come on, Harry-kun" Naruto cajoled. "You can tell us about it. We just want to help."

Harry had a clear preoccupation with how friends were supposed to help each other. He insisted constantly on offering his assistance with anything he thought he could do. And more than once Sasuke had indulged it just to please him. And that had proved a useful exchange since more than once they had managed to persuade Harry to go along with something they wanted him to do based on the criteria that they were trying to be _helpful_ friends. At the very least, such an appeal to sentimentality ought to have made Harry feel guilty about spurning such an offer.

But the opposite happened. Where before Harry seemed lost and not ready yet to push the issue, now his expression hardened. It was all of the little tells, a clenched jaw, direct eye contact, the slight shift to move his feet shoulder width apart. All the indicators of a Harry ready to argue a point into the ground.

"There's nothing to talk about," Harry announced and Sasuke did not believe him for one moment but it was clear _Harry _thought that was how things were going to be.

"Where were you?" Sasuke countered.

"Nowhere."

"Nowhere _where_? You were not on the compound, so you had to be some place."

Harry shrugged in perfect nonchalance. "Nowhere. I'll talk to you in the morning," he added suddenly, moving to go up the stairs.

Sasuke stepped in front of him to block his path. "Who is Horace Slughorn and why do you care if he is dead?"

Harry scowled. "A man's dead. Isn't that enough? Or do you not care when people die?"

"Harry," Naruto chided but Sasuke could not care less. He _didn't_ care when _people_ died. He cared about his cousin. He cared about his team. Maybe a few other people. And he very much personally wanted to be the one to make Itachi dead. Beyond that he did not give a damn who died or when or how.

"What did that man ask you to do?" Sasuke demanded, switching gears. There were too many unknowns. Far too many. But maybe if he pushed at enough of them, one of them would get a reaction out of his cousin. Harry was not good at controlling his emotions or how he expressed them, as much as he was managing to be stubbornly obtuse at the moment. Something was bound to get a reaction – or lack of reaction – out of him, and that would at least give Sasuke a place to start.

"We had tea," Harry drawled, in what he clearly thought was a clever response. He moved once more to step around Sasuke and Sasuke pushed him back. Harry frowned – and there! Finally. A reaction that was not controlled. Except it wasn't the emotion Sasuke would have expected. That was not an angry Harry frown. He wasn't pressing his lips together tightly the way he did when he was fuming and trying not to yell. It was some other kind of frown, one Sasuke was not sure if he knew or understood exactly. Guilt, maybe, but clearly not enough to be useful. Sad, maybe? Almost like he did not see the point in being angry about something. As if he had given up on it making a difference. Somehow it was worse than the temper Sasuke was used to. But there wasn't time to get distracted by such things. Sasuke was not a fool. He had to make use of whatever worked. Find a weakness and exploit it. That's how these things went. And something about Sasuke forcing the issue was enough to get Harry to actually _respond._

Sasuke shoved at him again. This time without prompting, just to get a reaction out of the other boy that was not part of some script.

"Hey!" both Naruto and Harry yelped. The shove was not nearly as hard as Sasuke could have managed but it was enough to send Harry stumbling back down the couple of steps he had gained. He caught himself at the bottom and glared back at Sasuke. "What the hell! Why did you do that?"

"Why are you lying?" Sasuke countered, because it ought to be fairly damn self-evident why he had done what he had. "That old man tell you to lie? Or was it this Slughorn?"

"You're being ridiculous," Harry muttered, shaking his head. He glanced over at Naruto like he expected him to make sense of what Sasuke was doing but Sasuke doubted he would find much help there. He better not. Not this time.

"Did you kill Slughorn?"

"No! Merlin! How could you even ask that?"

Because it was a possibility. Maybe not a very good one, but Sasuke knew enough to know that if that bastard of an old man had Harry wrapped around his finger enough to make him lie to Sasuke's face like this, then who knew what else he had been able to convince Harry to do?

"Did the Headmaster?"

"No!"

Most likely the truth, and Sasuke supposed it made him feel a little better to know that his cousin had not been turned into a killer or following a confirmed one blindly. But that still meant that there was something else Harry was hiding and the endless possibilities of what that could be did _not_ reassure Sasuke. Because while there were plenty of possibilities, he had a sinking feeling in his gut that this would not be one of the less unpleasant ones.

"God, Sasuke, it was nothing like that," Harry continued, sounding genuinely distressed. Good. Sasuke should not be the only one.

Sasuke followed Harry down the steps, forcing his way into Harry's space. "Then what was it like exactly?"

Harry shook his head. "I – I'm not talking about this with you," he said and tried to step back and then around Sasuke like he was some kind of simple inconvenience. Like he could end this conversation as easily as that.

Sasuke yanked on his arm hard, grabbing it just above the elbow and jerking Harry back in front of him with a bit of shove as he released him. Naruto shifted in place, his weight rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet before making the smart choice to stay the hell out of this. Harry meanwhile hissed in pain, a quiet cut off noise of weakness that was as good as blood in the water for a nin. "Sasuke!"

Sasuke ignored it. "What are you ashamed of?" he continued his barrage of questions. He could do this all night if necessary. Process of elimination alone ought to work if he was given enough time. It was not the most effective interrogation process, but it was certainly one of the less bloody ones Sasuke knew of.

Harry's eyes were wide and for the first time he seemed to finally realize that Sasuke was not taking no for an answer on this. "Nothing," he said automatically without thinking about it and he did a good job of hiding the slight flinch when he did. It would probably have been enough to let him get by when dealing with civilians. Clearly, Harry did not have as much experience lying to nin.

"Too ashamed to tell us?" Sasuke demanded.

"It's none of your business, Sasuke!"

Sasuke shoved him again. He kept it one handed, just shy of knocking the other boy off of his feet but still enough to leave him struggling to keep his feet under him as he slipped in the gravel.

"Whose business is it then? That old man. The old woman? This Slughorn?"

"I'm done with this, Sasuke. You can't just – just hit me when you don't get the answer you like."

"If necessary."

Harry stared at him wide eyed for a moment before looking over at Naruto, then back at Sasuke. "You don't mean that."

Sasuke did not bother to argue it. "Were you there when Slughorn died?"

Harry shook his head and tried once more to move around him, this time with his body angled, ready for the attack. Sasuke let him get close enough to grab, then waited just a heartbeat longer until Harry was hindered by the stairs, until he thought he was in the clear, before grabbing him from behind. Harry had to have expected something, however, and tried to duck and jerk out of his grip just like they had shown him how to. It was only enough to make Sasuke's task more difficult to do without hurting the other boy. But Sasuke got a good enough grip on him to yank him backwards, maybe a bit harder than he should have. It was enough that when Sasuke let him go, Harry's feet slipped out from under him and he skidded down into the gravel on hands and knees. He was good about twisting around and getting back on his feet again, though. His grappling lessons had paid off some at least. Harry did have good instincts and reflexes, just not enough power to back them up with real force or withstand what a nin could throw at him.

"Sasuke!" Harry yelped, and it might have made someone else hesitate to stay the course but Sasuke had been trained by the best.

"Why was Slughorn killed?"

Harry stared at him again, some kind of understanding finally sinking into that stubborn, reckless brain of his. He shook his head slowly, not even trying to answer any more.

Sasuke feinted forward and watched as his cousin flinched back. He would not need to hit the other boy if he thought Sasuke would. "Did the Headmaster get what he wanted from you?"

Harry's breathing had picked up, primed on adrenaline and trying to brace for what he had to know by now was coming. He was not getting around Sasuke without answering his questions. Sasuke did not care how long they had to spend out there or how many times he had to go after his cousin to make him answer, and Harry knew it. If this was what it took to get Harry to tell him the truth - to be able to protect Harry the way he needed to - then Sasuke was going to do it. If it was necessary to keep Harry safe, then Sasuke would do it. Naruto could wring his hands all he wanted. And maybe when this was all over and Harry was safe and Sasuke did not have that panicked feeling suffocating him like a living thing clawing its way down his throat - maybe then Sasuke would have nightmares about this night. But right now, all he could think about was those terrifying seconds, minutes, almost a full hour, that he could not find his cousin, did not know if he was alive or dead like this Slughorn person, and it was every worst fear he had had about coming to this place.

And Harry, his foolish, suicidal, stubborn cousin had that look on his face. The same look he had had the night he pulled his weapon on Sasuke rather than tell him the truth. Scared and furious and resigned to die on this hill come what may.

"I'm not talking to you about this, Sasuke," Harry finally said, quietly but firmly. "I can't."

And finally, the heart of the damn problem.

"_Can't?"_ Sasuke snarled. "_Why_ can't you?"

Harry shook his head and between one movement and the next Sasuke was there striking him across the face.


	38. Chapter 38

Harry saw the blow coming and did his best to mitigate the damage. He wasn't going to be able to get completely out of the way in time, but he shifted back, arms coming up to protect his head, and chin ducking down as he waited for it.

Sasuke wouldn't hurt him, not seriously, not the way he really could if he wanted to. But he'd also never seen Sasuke this angry. Or maybe he had. After the wizard attack in Konoha, when Harry had been too scared he would be expelled to tell Sasuke the truth about magic. Sasuke had been so furious then, but also frightened. Badly. And he had pushed and shoved at Harry then too, trying to figure out what was going on. But Sasuke was even angrier now and Harry didn't know what to tell him to make it better. He couldn't tell him the truth. He'd promised Dumbledore. He was part of the Order now, and that came with responsibilities. Responsibilities that went beyond just him and what he wanted.

Harry would manage. He always did. He just hated having to fight with Sasuke.

The blow caught Harry across one arm and the temple, Sasuke's height advantage enough to make it feel like Harry's head was slamming down even if it was just his chin thudding against his chest. He stumbled. But his forearm took most of the shock. It hurt, but nothing was damaged. He tried shoving back, but his balance was off and he wasn't going to manage much.

Sasuke grabbed for him. Maybe to help keep him on his feet. Maybe to push him over. But then Sasuke was knocked clean off _his_ feet and a good three meters away.

"Sasuke!" Harry yelped, reaching out one hand as if he could catch the other boy. Sasuke tumbled once before transforming the movement into a smooth roll up to his feet, weapon in hand. Naruto was suddenly in front of Harry, kunai also drawn, and body a solid warm mass in front of Harry, blocking his view of just about everything.

"Touch him again and I'll turn your insides out!" someone yelled and the voice was so harsh it took Harry a second to recognize it.

Harry's head jerked back to Sasuke. "No!" he yelled. Because Sasuke had only one way of dealing with something he saw as a problem.

Sasuke seemed to understand the situation at the same moment Harry did and something pained crossed his face quickly before the knife went away as if it had never existed. He was still hunched over, still looking ready to fight at any moment, but he was at least aware enough to know that a kunai was not an acceptable option.

Harry's ears were still ringing a bit, but he shook it off and pushed around Naruto. Or tried to. A hand snagged the bottom of his shirt and jerked him back enough to keep him in reach.

"Let him go! Let him go right now!"

Harry didn't try to fight it. This already looked bad enough as it was. He held up his hands imploringly. "Hermione, calm down."

It had seemed like a reasonable thing to say at the time but for some reason it only made her more furious. She and Ron were standing just in front of the main doors, the invisibility cloak clutched in Ron's hand and while Hermione had the map in hers. They were both red in the face, short of breath like they'd had to run from one end of the building to the other. Hermione had her wand pointed at Sasuke and didn't look like she was going to rethink that any time soon.

"Everything's fine," Harry told her. Hermione always did have a tendency to overreact to these kinds of things, though Harry could admit it must not have looked very good. They just didn't know Sasuke very well. Harry had seen Sasuke and Naruto fight about things before, this was just how they handled arguments.

"Shut up, Harry," Hermione replied sharply and it threw Harry off. Why was she mad at him?

"No, really, it's –"

"You – are an idiot. So just – just shut up and get over here."

"We were just – "

"Now, Potter!" and for some reason she sounded like she was about to start crying. Hermione wasn't the type for crying. Not like some of the other girls in their year. Sure, she did it from time to time and it was awful and neither Ron nor Harry ever knew what to say to her to get her to stop when it happened, but Hermione only cried when she couldn't figure out how to fix something.

"Alright," Harry told her, because agreeing with Hermione was usually the safest option. He tried to step forward, but Naruto must have had the world's firmest grip pinching onto the edge of his t-shirt. "Um, can you let go now?" Harry muttered.

Hermione heard him well enough. "You don't touch him either!" she yelled at Naruto.

Naruto didn't even flinch. "She gonna spell you?" he muttered back, not exactly whispering but clearly trying to keep it quiet.

"Jinks. Or Hex," Harry corrected before shaking his head. "No. It's fine. Just, everyone calm down, okay?"

Hermione didn't look ready to calm down anytime soon and Sasuke was still braced for an attack, but Naruto finally let him go. Harry didn't bother fixing his shirt, it was helplessly twisted around after everything. Instead he kept his eyes on Hermione. Her wand hand was shaking she was so furious but Harry had seen her nail a target under worse conditions. She might not be the fastest dueler, but she made up for it in breadth of knowledge and accuracy.

"Come on, Hermione," Harry cajoled, trying to keep his voice relaxed and friendly. "You're not actually going to hex someone unarmed on the front drive."

"The hell I'm not."

Harry's eyes widened a bit and he glanced over at Ron, looking for a bit of support. But Ron was still red in the face and was glaring at Sasuke like the other boy had cheated for Slytherin during the last game to decide the House Cup. "Don't be stupid, Harry," Ron finally said, his voice clipped and sharp like he was hurling each word out from him. "Get over here, alright? No more of this."

Harry wasn't exactly sure what this was supposed to refer to. Arguing on the steps? Sneaking about after curfew? Order business? Being friends with Sasuke and Naruto? Harry knew his friends weren't wild about his cousin, but this was going a bit far even for them. Harry scrambled to find something to say to calm everything down. He had known keeping the Order business a secret was going to make a lot of people in his life unhappy, but he had never thought it would spiral so far out of control like this.

"Harry Potter," Hermione snapped, "if you say this is fine one more time, I might just hex you too."

Harry flinched and didn't miss the way Sasuke moved suddenly much closer. Still back far enough that he could easily watch all of them, but halving the distance that separated them. "Can you not threaten to hurt me like that?"

"Me?" Hermione shrieked, sounding a bit like the word was choking her on the way out. Harry cringed and found himself moving forward without thinking about it. Anything that upset Hermione that much needed to stop right now.

"Alright, alright," Harry reassured her. "Look we can discuss this inside, okay? Can we just stop pointing wands at each other?"

"We are not done with our discussion," Sasuke growled.

"Oh, yes, you are. You're completely done. You're not coming anywhere near Harry ever again, do you hear me?"

"Hermione! Don't you think you're overreacting, just a little here?"

Hermione finally lowered her wand, once Harry was close enough that it was more of a threat to him than anyone else. But she kept it clenched tightly in one hand and Ron kept glaring past Harry as if daring the nin to even try anything. Hermione's mouth was one tight line, like she was trying to keep all the words she wanted to say from coming out. How she could look so pissed but also like she was about to start crying, Harry didn't know.

"It's okay, Hermione, I promise," Harry repeated, unable to help himself. She just didn't understand.

"The fact that you believe that it is is what's most upsetting," Hermione replied and the absolute certainty in her tone made Harry feel the first bit of unease. As if he was the one caught off balance. "You were arguing."

Harry managed a weak smile. "So? I argue with people a lot. So do you."

Hermione shook her head. "I've never hit someone during an argument. Not with someone I called a friend. Or family. You don't do that to someone you care about. And it's not how you win an argument. Harry – it's not how you get someone to do something they don't want to do. You – you can understand the difference, right?"

Harry didn't know why he was blushing or why he suddenly felt so embarrassed. He certainly hadn't been the one to do anything wrong. "Well, yes, but this is different."

Hermione grabbed his hand and held it tight. "It isn't. It really, really, isn't, Harry. And the second you start trying to justify it like that is the moment you've got a serious problem. But it's – it's okay if you don't understand that right now. Just trust me on this? Okay?

Harry's ears felt like they were on fire and he couldn't figure out why this mattered so much to her, or why Ron was so firmly on her side on this one. He just didn't want to talk about this anymore. Didn't want to go back to fighting with Sasuke and hating himself for it. Didn't want to try to figure out how to lie to the people he called his friends. Didn't want to think about the simpering, but soft spoken man he'd had tea with just an hour or so before that was now apparently dead. Probably dead because of them. Because the Order had come knocking on his door. Because Harry Potter had almost been a friend.

Harry rubbed at his face and tried to will the flush away, before scraping his hand through his hair. "Can – can we just go to bed now?"

"Sure," Ron piped up, finally joining back in. He nodded at Harry like that was a capital idea. Harry started in, not glancing over at Sasuke, not wanting to see the look on Sasuke's face.

Hermione hesitated longer, but eventually nodded too. She took her hand back and took a moment to smooth out her clothes as if she could wipe away the temper. She had her voice under control by the time she spoke.

"If you ever strike Harry like that again, there won't be enough of you left to worry about being brought up on charges of assault," she announced. "I don't know what kind of sorry excuse for a household you were brought up in, but we do not bully or physically abuse the people we care about. I don't care anymore if it's actually true that you're related or not. You clearly don't deserve to be."


End file.
